Early Treatment of Stomach Infection May Prevent Cancer

Based on research using a new mouse model of gastritis and stomach cancer, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that prompt treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections reverses damage to the lining of the stomach that can lead to cancer.

In the May 1 issue of Cancer Research, researchers say their study results should lay to rest any question about whether — and when — antibiotic treatment of H. pylori can eliminate or reduce risk of developing gastric, or stomach cancer.

"We concluded that H. pylori eradication prevented gastric cancer to the greatest extent when antibiotics were given at an early point of infection, but that eradication therapy given at a later time point also delayed the development of severe lesions that can lead to cancer," said the study’s lead author, James Fox.

The findings are important, Fox says, because stomach cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and approximately half of the world?s population is infected with H. pylori.

Although H. pylori infection is now recognized as the major cause of both peptic ulcers and gastric cancer, and has been classified as a group I carcinogen by the World Health Organization, physicians are not sure whom to screen and treat with costly antibiotics, aside from first degree relatives of gastric cancer patients and those with peptic ulcer disease, he adds.

Fox’s research team examined the effects of treating and eliminating H. pylori at different stages of progression from gastritis, an inflammation of the mucous membrane layer of the stomach, to development of gastric cancer.

They found that, at every stage of advancing infection, mice that were treated with antibiotics had less severe disease. Treating mice that were eight weeks post-infection reduced risk of developing cancer to the same level seen in uninfected mice.

"Our mouse model mimics the progressive process we know occurs in development of human gastric cancer," Fox said. "This shows early intervention provides the maximum benefit."