FRIDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Eradication of Helicobacter pylori after endoscopic resection to treat early gastric cancer can prevent the development of metachronous gastric carcinoma, according to a study published in the Aug. 2 issue of The Lancet.
Kazutoshi Fukase, M.D., of Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital in Yamagata, Japan, and colleagues conducted a study of 544 patients with early gastric cancer who were randomized to either an H. pylori eradication regimen group or a control group. Eradication-group patients took 30 mg lansoprazole, 750 mg amoxicillin and 200 mg clarithromycin twice daily for a week.
Patients underwent endoscopy at six, 12, 24 and 36 months after surgery, the report indicates. At the three-year point, nine patients in the eradication group had metachronous gastric carcinoma, versus 24 patients in the control group, the investigators report.
"Since participants in this study had a history of gastric cancer, one would expect that they differ from the general population in terms of specific genotypes and environmental factors," the authors write. "Although this could limit the generalizability of the results, we believe that our data add to those from previous studies showing a causal relationship between H. pylori infection and gastric cancer, and also support the use of H. pylori eradication to prevent the development of gastric cancer."
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