The relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and the effects of chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer

Purpose Several reports have shown a better prognosis in gastric cancer patients who are positive for Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection compared with negative cases. However, there are currently no studies that investigate the relationship between HP infection and the effects of chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients. In this study, we report the relationship between HP infection and chemotherapy effects in patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. Methods Sixty-one patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. Biopsies were conducted around the tumor site to determine HP status. Patients were then treated with combination 5-FU and cisplatin-based chemotherapy. And we compared chemotherapy response rate and overall survival rate between HP infection group and without HP infection group. Results Twelve of 18 patients with HP infection (66.7 %) and 9 of 42 patients without HP infection (21.4 %) showed a partial response to chemotherapy (Chi square P = 0.001). Patients with HP infection had a median survival time of 13 months (95 % CI, 6.9-19.1 months), which was significantly longer than that of patients without HP infection (9 months; P = 0.027, log-rank test). Conclusions Patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer with concomitant HP infection had a better response to chemotherapy and had an improved overall prognosis compared with patients without HP infection. Further studies are warranted to confirm these findings.