Helicobacter pylori and early gastric cancer: relation to atrophic gastritis in background gastric mucosa

Objective: To make a clinical evaluation of the association between Helicobacter pylori and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Design: Rates of H. pylori infection were assessed in relation to histologically identified atrophic changes in the background mucosa of patients with early gastric cancer, chronic gastric ulcer, atrophic gastritis or a normal stomach. Results: No difference was observed in the rate of H. pylori infection between well and poorly differentiated types of early gastric cancer. Of 41 early gastric cancer cases, 61 % were H. pylori-positive, a significantly higher rate than in normal controls, the same level as in atrophic gastritis cases but lower than in chronic gastric ulcer cases