Abstract 1884: Serological testing along with epidemiological data establishes a trend of pylori's association with colon polyps

Abstract

Background: It has become common wisdom that Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is linked to gastric cancer. However, its involvement in colorectal cancer (CRC) is still under investigation. The trophic effects of induced hypergastrinemea on colon homeostasis as well as HP direct effects on the colon mucosa might play a role in CRC. Methods: We previously reported that epidemiological data in African American patients (n=1262, >40 years old) who underwent bidirectional gastrointestinal endoscopy show an HP association with colon polyps formation. To substantiate this linkage, we used serological testing on healthy (n=94) and colon polyp (n=95) patients for anti-HP and anti-CagA antibodies to further confirm our epidemiological findings. Microarray used to detect the Gut flora including HP using 16rDNA from stool (n=12) of healthy and colon adenomas. Results: The healthy individuals had an average age of 63.7 (SD=9.80) while the polyp patients had an average age of 62.8 (SD=9.7). The gender distribution was 42/52 and 41/54 in the two groups for males and females, respectively. As such, the two groups were age and sex matched. In the polyp patients, 55.6% was HP-positive while there was only 48.8% positive in the control group (p=0.30 for this difference). Cag A positive samples were 73.3% in polyp patients and 67.5% in healthy individuals (p = 0.5). Gut flora analysis using a 16S rDNA microarray from stool (n=12) samples revealed the presence of HP signals in healthy and colon adenomas analyzed samples. Conclusion: HP seems to be associated with an increased risk of colon adenoma. However, whether HP is a colon inhabitant and participant in colon carcinogenesis or just a gastric wash-out is under investigation in normal and tumor colon biopsies’ gut flora studies. Large sample size is needed to confirm the above observed trend of a possible association of HP with CRC. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1884. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1884