Metabolic Bariatric Surgery, Gastric Cancer, and Helicobacter pylori: A Portuguese Reality?

Obesity is a major healthcare problem, increasingly affecting millions of people and immensely burdening government health budgets worldwide and being responsible for worse life expectancies and unhealthy aging. Metabolic bariatric surgery is a major treatment option for severe obesity, even though very few possible surgical candidates get an operation yearly. It is of paramount importance to raise awareness and promote early referral to multidisciplinary surgical teams. Gastric cancer is one of the most common and high-mortality cancers and is one of 13 obesity-related malignancies. Its association with Helicobacter pylori infection is increasingly recognised through several pathways related to bacterial virulence factors and host-pathogen cross-talk. This review aims to provide data of Portugal’s national reality regarding Helicobacter infection and gastric cancer in the metabolic bariatric surgery setting and its possible influence on eradication policy and surgical options.