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Novel association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in a multi-ethnic population
Journal article   Open access

Novel association between Helicobacter pylori infection and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in a multi-ethnic population

Jaclyn Kagihara, Brent Matsuda, Kraig L. Young, Xiufen Li, Xuegang Lao, Gautam A. Deshpande, Fumio Omata, Terrilea Burnett, Charles F. Lynch, Brenda Y. Hernandez, …
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor, Vol.3, pp.1-1
11/2020
DOI: 10.21037/gist-20-2
url
https://doi.org/10.21037/gist-20-2View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Background: The incidence of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is increasing though its epidemiology remains poorly understood. The epidemiological factors involved in GIST were examined in the multi-ethnic population of Hawaii, which has the highest incidence of GIST of all Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) sites in the USA, in order to gain insight into the potential risk factors for GIST. Methods: Archival tumor tissue from 71 morphologically and immunohistochemically confirmed GIST cases and 65 gastritis-only controls diagnosed between 1998–2017 were evaluated for five Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) genes (HP1177, 16S rRNA, iceA, ureB, vacA) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gastritis controls. Results: Across the ethnically diverse Hawaii population, GIST were significantly more common in Asians compared with whites. The gastric predominance of GIST and higher prevalence of H. pylori in Asians than whites in Hawaii led us to examine this infection as a potential causative factor of GIST. Forty-nine (69.0%) GIST cases were gastric in origin. Of 71 GIST cases, 48 (67.6%) were positive for at least one H. pylori gene, compared with only 13 (20.0%) of the controls {unadjusted odds ratio (OR): 8.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.8–18.3]; P<0.0001}; 23 (32.4%) of GIST cases were positive for at least two different H. pylori genes, compared with only 6 (9.2%) controls [unadjusted OR: 4.7 (95% CI: 1.8–12.5); P=0.002]. Conclusions: H. pylori infection is strongly associated with GIST and may play an important role in its tumorigenesis.

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