MedWire News: Patients who have undergone surgery for stomach cancer are less likely to experience a recurrence of their disease if they receive treatment to eradicate the stomach ulcer-causing bug Helicobacter pylori, study results show.

Some studies have shown that removal of Helicobacter pylori, which is responsible for up to 90% of all gastric ulcers, from the stomach protects against the development of stomach cancer, but others have found no such protective effect, explain Dr Masahiro Asaka, from Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in Sapporo, Japan, and team.

To investigate further, the researchers studied 544 patients who had undergone surgery for early stomach cancer.

Half the patients were assigned to receive Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, consisting of twice-daily treatment with two antibiotics and a stomach acid-suppressing drug for 1 week, while the other half received no such treatment.

After 3 years, the researchers found that just nine patients who received Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy had developed stomach cancer again, compared with 24 of those who did not receive eradication therapy.

Overall, Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy after stomach cancer surgery was associated with a 65% reduced risk of stomach cancer recurrence.

Dr Asaka and team conclude: "The results of this... trial suggest that treatment to eradicate Helicobacter pylori reduces the risk of developing new gastric carcinoma in patients who have a history of such disease and are thus at high risk for developing further gastric cancers."

They add: "Our data add to those from previous studies showing a causal relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer, and also support the use of Helicobacter pylori eradication to prevent the development of gastric cancer."

The research is published in The Lancet.