“True” Helicobacter pylori infection and non‐cardia gastric cancer: a pooled analysis within the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project

Morais, S. et al. (2022) “True” Helicobacter pylori infection and non‐cardia gastric cancer: a pooled analysis within the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project. Helicobacter, 27(3), e12883. (doi: 10.1111/hel.12883) (PMID:35235224)

Abstract

Background: Helicobacter pylori is the most important risk factor for non-cardia gastric cancer (NCGC); however, the magnitude of the association varies across epidemiological studies. This study aimed to quantify the association between H. pylori infection and NCGC, using different criteria to define infection status. Methods: A pooled analysis of individual-level H. pylori serology data from eight international studies (1325 NCGC and 3121 controls) from the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Consortium was performed. Cases and controls with a negative H. pylori infection status were reclassified as positive considering the presence of anti-Cag A antibodies, gastric atrophy, or advanced stage at diagnosis, as available and applicable. A two-stage approach was used to pool study-specific adjusted odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). A meta-analysis of published prospective studies assessing H. pylori seropositivity in NCGCs was conducted. Results: The OR for the association between serology-defined H. pylori and NCGC was 1.45 (95% CI: 0.87–2.42), which increased to 4.79 (95% CI: 2.39–9.60) following the reclassification of negative H. pylori infection. The results were consistent across strata of sociodemographic characteristics, clinical features and lifestyle factors, though significant differences were observed according to geographic region—a stronger association in Asian studies. The pooled risk estimates from the literature were 3.01 (95% CI: 2.22–4.07) for ELISA or EIA and 9.22 (95% CI: 3.12–27.21) for immunoblot or multiplex serology. Conclusion: The NCGC risk estimate from StoP based on the reclassification of H. pylori seronegative individuals is consistent with the risk estimates obtained from the literature. Our classification algorithm may be useful for future studies.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was funded by national funds from the Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education), under the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit; UIDB/04750/2020), and by the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Project no. 21378 (Investigator Grant). AC and SM were funded by FEDER through the Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization, and national funding from FCT under the scope of the project "NEON-PC—Neuro-oncological complications of prostate cancer: longitudinal study of cognitive decline" (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032358; ref. PTDC/SAU-EPI/32358/2017). SM was also funded by the EPIUnit—Junior Research—Prog Financing (UIDP/04750/2020). An individual grant attributed to NA (SFRH/BD/119390/2016) was funded by FCT and the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH/FSE).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Derakhshan, Professor Mohammad
• Authors: Morais, S., Costa, A., Albuquerque, G., Araújo, N., Tsugane, S., Hidaka, A., Hamada, G. S., Ye, W., Plymoth, A., Leja, M., Gasenko, E., Zaridze, D., Maximovich, D., Malekzadeh, R., Derakhshan, M. H., Pelucchi, C., Negri, E., Camargo, M. C., Curado, M. P., Vioque, J., Zhang, Z.‐F., La Vecchia, C., Boffetta, P., and Lunet, N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Helicobacter
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1083-4389
• ISSN (Online): 1523-5378
• Published Online: 02 March 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 John Wiley and Sons Ltd
• First Published: First published in Helicobacter 27(3): e12883
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy