[Treatment of gastric ulcers with proton pump inhibitors--long-term treatment].

Pronounced inhibition of acid secretion appears to induce an intragastric environment suitable for N-nitrosamine formation, hyper-gastrinemia, ECL cell hyperplasia and carcinoid tumor formation. Development of gastric cancer, however, has not been obvious in clinical and experimental studies, but oncongenicity studies indicate an increased risk of gastric cancer with long-term use of proton pump inhibitors in subjects with hyperplastic or other, changes in the gastric mucosa. The findings suggest that proton pump inhibitors should be used only for short term treatment.