Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric adenocarcinoma: a retrospective and comparative analysis

The Helicobacter pylori infection increases the risk of development gastric neoplasia. This is the most important risk factor for causing intestinal adenocarcinoma, which is the most prevalent gastric cancer, and is also strongly associated with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma - MALT. A retrospective and comparative analysis was carried out at Hospital de Amor de Barretos, a reference oncology service, in the years 2017 and 2021, in order to determine whether there is an association between the existence of the infection and gastric adenocarcinoma, and whether there was any change over 05 years. In total, 369 medical records of patients diagnosed with gastric cancer were analyzed, 218 and 151, respectively. In 2017, 45.1% of patients were investigated for Helicobacter pylori and 54% in 2021 (p=0.104). Infection was detected in 42.3 and 33.3% (p=0.232) respectively, and eradication therapy in 19.5 and 24%. Although the present study was carried out in a referral oncology hospital, it was not possible to objectively determine the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and the development of gastric adenocarcinoma.