Helicobacter pylori Therapy for the Prevention of Metachronous Gastric Cancer

Background Patients with early gastric cancers that are limited to gastric mucosa or submucosa usually have an advanced loss of mucosal glandular tissue (glandular atrophy) and are at high risk for subsequent (metachronous) development of new gastric cancer. The long-term effects of treatment to eradicate Helicobacter pylori on histologic improvement and the prevention of metachronous gastric cancer remain unclear. Methods In this prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, we assigned 470 patients who had undergone endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer or high-grade adenoma to receive either H. pylori eradication therapy with antibiotics or placebo. Two primary outcomes were the incidence of metachronous gastric cancer detected on endoscopy performed at the 1-year follow-up or later and improvement from baseline in the grade of glandular atrophy in the gastric corpus lesser curvature at the 3-year follow-up. Results A total of 396 patients were included in the modifie...