Retrospective cohort study of survival impact of anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment in patients undergoing radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer

It is not clear whether anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment can provide survival benefits for patients who undergo gastrectomy for gastric cancer and have a presurgical confirmation of H. pylori infection. A retrospective cohort study at Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China) included 1293 such patients in a group receiving anti- H. pylori treatment peri-operatively and during follow-up (n=125) and a group not receiving this treatment (n=1168). Both before and after propensity score matching, overall survival and disease-free survival were significantly better in the anti-H.pylori treated group. In multivariable analysis anti-H. pylori treatment was associated with better OS (HR 0.38; p=0.02) and DFS (HR 0.48; p=0.008). Among patients with stage II or III disease who received adjuvant chemotherapy, anti-H. pylori treatment was associated with better OS (HR 0.49; p=0.046), whereas among those who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, anti-H. pylori treatment was not associated with survival benefit (HR 0.29; p=0.22). The authors conclude that anti-H. pylori treatment may be associated with improved survival in patients with gastric cancer who have H. pylori infections.