[The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer and gastric stump cancer].

In 1994, the International Agency for Research in Cancer recognized Helicobacter pylori (Hp) as "a definitive cause of human cancer". The present study aimed at determining the prevalence of Hp infection in the gastric cancer developed on the background of a disordered stomach as compared with gastric stump cancer. The prevalence of Hp infection was a twice higher in the patients with gastric cancer than in those with gastric stump cancer, and in both cases much lower than that reported in the literature. Possible explanation would be the much older mean age of the patients, the protective role of gastrectomy, and the multifactorial etiopathogenesis in both gastric and gastric stump cancers.