Precancerous Gastric Lesions with Helicobacter pylori vacA+/babA2+/oipA+ Genotype Increase the Risk of Gastric Cancer

Objective. The clinical outcomes of gastric diseases such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer have been attributed to the interplay of virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), host genetic susceptibility, and host immune responses. This study investigated the presence of cagA, vacA, iceA2, babA2, and oipA genes and their association with clinical outcomes. Methods. Chronic gastritis, atrophic gastritis, and intestinal metaplasia specimens were obtained from patients who underwent endoscopy and surgical resection between January 2017 and December 2018; specimens from gastric cancer patients treated between January 2014 and December 2018 were also added. H. pylori infection and virulence genes (cagA, vacA, iceA2, babA2, and oipA) were determined using real-time PCR. The association between H. pylori genotypes and clinical outcomes were evaluated using multivariate regression model analysis. The overall survival of gastric cancer patients was compared between genotype combinations. Results. H. pylori was positive in 166 patients with chronic gastritis, precancerous gastric lesions, and gastric cancer. The genes vacA, babA2, and oipA were most prevalent in chronic gastritis (73%), precancerous gastric lesions (62%), and gastric cancer (91%), respectively. The vacA, babA2, and oipA genes were associated with increased risk of gastric cancer (OR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.13–3.32; P=0.033, OR = 2.64; 95% CI = 1.44–4.82, P=0.024, and OR = 2.79; 95% CI = 1.58–5.41; P=0.031, respectively). Interestingly, H. pylori vacA+/babA2+/oipA+ genotype infection was associated with increased risk of gastric cancer (OR = 3.85, 95% CI = 1.67–5.77, P=0.014). Conclusion. In this present study, we reported on the virulence genes of H. pylori infection to reveal their association with increased risk of chronic gastritis, precancerous gastric lesions, and gastric cancer. Precancerous gastric lesions with H. pylori vacA+/babA2+/oipA+ genotype increased the risk of gastric cancer

Expression of Cancer Stem Cell Marker CD44 and Its Polymorphisms in Patients with Chronic Gastritis, Precancerous Gastric Lesion, and Gastric Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study in Thailand

Here we investigated CD44 protein expression and its polymorphisms in patients with chronic gastritis, precancerous gastric lesions, and gastric cancer; and we evaluated our result with the risk of CD44 protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Our results obtained by analyzing 162 gastric cancer patients, 125 chronic gastritis, and 165 precancerous gastric lesions from three study centers in Thailand showed that CD44 expression was significantly higher in patients with precancerous gastric lesions and gastric cancer while patients with chronic gastritis were negative for CD44 staining (p=0.036). We further observed the significant association of variant genotype; gastric cancer patients carrying AG or GG of CD44 rs187116 had more increased risk of CD44 expression than wild-type (WT) carriers (AG: odds ratio (OR) = 5.67; 95% CI = 1.57–7.23; p=0.024 and GG: OR = 8.32; 95% CI = 2.94–11.42; p=0.016), but no significant difference in the risk of CD44 expression due to polymorphism in patients with precancerous gastric lesions. Our results suggested that CD44 expression could be used as a marker for the prediction of gastric cancer development, particularly in patients with precancerous gastric lesions carrying AG or GG, who were selected to surveillance follow-up for gastric cancer prevention