Santhosh P. V., Ravindran Chirukandath, Geethanjali M, Vinodh M.
BACKGROUND The prevalence of gastric cancer is associated with several factors including geographical location, diet, and genetic background of the host. Helicobacter pylori infection is an important etiological factor for the occurrence of non-cardiac gastric adenocarcinoma in developing and underdeveloped countries with poor hygienic conditions. There are no documented studies on the association of gastric carcinoma with H. pylori from the mid Kerala districts of Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram. These districts have got the highest incidence in Kerala for carcinoma stomach and Government Medical College, Thrissur is the primary referral institution for such cases. METHODS A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at General Surgery department of a tertiary care hospital of Kerala. Patients suspected to have carcinoma stomach undergoing endoscopy/open surgery, who have consented to take part in the study were tested for H. pylori infection. RESULTS Distribution of gastric adenocarcinoma and the prevalence of H. pylori, we found that H pylori was present in 29 cases of total 66 cases Prevalence of H. pylori is 43.9% among gastric carcinoma patients in this study. CONCLUSIONS Even though many advances in the understanding of gastric cancer have been made, the disease is still one of the malignancies with the highest incidence and mortality rates worldwide. It is believed that there is an overall decline in gastric cancers due to reduction and eradication of H. pylori infection with improved sanitation. Once carcinoma is detected, H. pylori is not given much significance. It is important to fully understand the inflammatory response initiated by the infection in order to fully block the cascade of events that lead to gastric cancer.
