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Helicobacter pylori infection increases the risk for gastric cancer. Evidence suggests that this risk persists after H. pylori eradication.
To identify possible histologic and endoscopic factors associated with increased risk in this setting, investigators in Japan followed a cohort of 573 patients with successful H. pylori eradication for a mean of 6.2 years. All patients had the location of histologic intestinal metaplasia (IM) and the location and severity of endoscopic gastric atrophy noted during their initial (preeradication) endoscopy.
Results were as follows:
The presence of IM in either the antrum or corpus increased the risk for gastric cancer: 5-year incidence rates for patients with no IM, IM in the antrum, and IM in the corpus wer…