ASSOCIATION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI AND ITS VIRULENCE GENES WITH GASTRIC CANCER IN SOUTH INDIAN POPULATION – A CASE CONTROL STUDY shuvaraj226@gmail.com

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ASSOCIATION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI AND ITS VIRULENCE GENES WITH GASTRIC CANCER IN SOUTH INDIAN POPULATION – A CASE CONTROL STUDY

5

Nepal

Oral or Poster

The role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer is well established. The incidence of virulence genes cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin gene (VacA) in gastric cancer patients varies widely across the world. The association of these genes to gastric cancer is less studied in the Indian population.

This case-control study was conducted in a tertiary center in South India from 2022 to 2024. Biopsy-proven gastric carcinoma patients were identified as cases, and participants with normal upper GI endoscopy were controls with 87 participants in each group. H pylori was detected in gastric tissue samples using both the urease testing method and 16s RNA specific to H. pylori by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The H pylori detected samples were subsequently processed for cag A, vac A s1/s2 and vac A m1m2 via conventional PCR and gel electrophoresis technique.

Out of the total 174 participants, 62 of the samples were urease test positive and 60 had H. pylori positive by PCR testing method. Among the H. pylori positive by PCR testing method, six were cag A positive, 5(83%) among the cases and 1(17%) among the controls [OR: 7.85 (CI: 0.85, 72.02) P=0.06]. Similarly, 32 individuals had vac A positivity; 7 (21%) among the cases and 25(78%) among the controls.

Among the H. pylori detected participants who were tested for virulence factors, the majority were cagA positive among the biopsy-proven gastric carcinoma patients, while most of the vacA positive participants had normal upper GI endoscopy.