Endoscopic surveillance of gastric cancers after Helicobacter pylori eradication

ACG Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis and Management of Gastric Premalignant Conditions

Gastric premalignant conditions (GPMC) are common and include atrophic gastritis, gastric intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and certain gastric epithelial polyps. GPMC have an increased risk of progression to gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric cancer (GC) in the United States represents an important cancer disparity because incidence rates are 2- to 13-fold greater in non-White individuals, particularly early-generation immigrants from regions of high GC incidence. The US 5-year survival rate for GC is 36%, which falls short of global standards and is driven by the fact that only a small percentage of GC in the US is diagnosed in the early, curable stage. This document represents the first iteration of American College of Gastroenterology guidelines on this topic and encompasses endoscopic surveillance for high-risk patients with GPMC, the performance of high-quality endoscopy and image-enhanced endoscopy for diagnosis and surveillance, GPMC histology criteria and reporting, endoscopic treatment of dysplasia, the role of Helicobacter pylori eradication, general risk reduction measures, and the management of autoimmune gastritis and gastric epithelial polyps. There is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation on upper endoscopic screening for GC/GPMC detection in US populations deemed high-risk for GC. Surveillance endoscopy is recommended for individuals at high risk for GPMC progression, as defined by endoscopic, histologic, and demographic factors, typically every 3 years, but an individualized interval may be warranted. H. pylori testing, treatment, and eradication confirmation are recommended in all individuals with GPMC. Extensive high-quality data from US populations regarding GPMC management are lacking, but continue to accrue, and the quality of evidence for the recommendations presented herein should be interpreted with this dynamic context in mind. The GPMC research and education agendas are broad and include high-quality prospective studies evaluating opportunistic endoscopic screening for GC/GPMC, refined delineation of what constitutes "high-risk" populations, development of novel biomarkers, alignment of best practices, implementation of training programs for improved GPMC/GC detection, and evaluation of the impact of these interventions on GC incidence and mortality in the US.

Endoscopic risk factors to inform early detection of gastric cancer after Helicobacter pylori eradication: Meta-analysis and systematic review

Objectives

Helicobacter pylori eradication reduces but cannot eliminate the risk of gastric cancer (GC). The prevalence of post-eradication GC has been rising. Characterization of the endoscopic findings of post-eradication GC may facilitate its early detection. We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review to clarify endoscopic risk factors to accelerate the early diagnosis of post-eradication GC.

Methods

Medline and PubMed were searched for randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies published in the English-language medical literature between January 1997 and July 2023. The included articles assessed the correlation between post-eradication GC and pre- and post-eradication endoscopic findings, and associated post-eradication GC with gastric atrophy, intestinal metaplasia (IM), map-like redness, and xanthoma.

Results

A total of 963 articles were retrieved. In these articles, 66 papers were finally included, comprising randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies. The included articles addressed gastric atrophy (16 studies), IM (eight studies), map-like redness (six studies), and xanthoma (two studies). Risk ratio (RR) of incident post-eradication GC was 3.40 (95%confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.98-5.84; p < 0.001) in cases of severe atrophy, 5.38 (95%CI: 3.62-8.00) in cases of severe IM, 2.34 (95%CI: 1.16-4.68) in cases with post-eradication map-like redness, and 2.75 (95% CI: 1.78-4.26) in cases with xanthoma.

Conclusions

Endoscopic atrophy, IM, and xanthoma observed at pre- and post-eradication time points and post-eradication map-like redness were suggested as endoscopic risk factors for post-eradication GC. Further studies are needed to clarify the risk of post-eradication GC based on these risk factors.

Helicobacter pylori Eradication Does Not Adversely Affect the Clinical Course of Gastric Cancer: A Multicenter Study on Screening Endoscopic Examination in Japan

BACKGROUND

Since gastric cancers (GCs) detected after Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication present with different morphological characteristics from conventional HP-positive GCs, delayed detection of early-stage GCs may be observed. This study aimed to investigate the clinical impact of HP eradication on diagnosing GC during screening endoscopy.

METHODS

Eleven health checkup institutions in Japan participated in the present study. All GC cases newly diagnosed by screening endoscopy between January 2016 and December 2020 were included. After propensity score matching, multivariable regression analysis was performed to estimate the effect of HP eradication on deep tumor invasion among HP-eradicated and HP-positive GC cases.

RESULTS

A total of 231 patients with GCs (134 HP-eradicated and 97 HP-positive cases) were enrolled. After propensity score matching, there were 81 cases in each group. The distribution of the depth of tumor invasion (pT1a, pT1b1, pT1b2, and pT2) between the HP-eradicated group and HP-positive group was similar (p = 0.82). In the propensity analysis, with HP-positive as the reference value, HP eradication was not significantly associated with T1b-T4-GCs and T1b2-T4-GCs, with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.16 (0.48-2.81) and 1.16 (0.42-3.19), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

HP eradication does not adversely affect the clinical course of GCs, supporting the recommendation of HP eradication in screening programs to reduce the total number of GC cases without delaying diagnosis.

Risk factors in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma in the general population: A cross-sectional study of the Wuwei Cohort

Several risk factors have been identified for the development of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC), where the control group was usually a healthy population. However, it is unclear at what stage known risk factor exert their influence toward the progression to cancer. Based on the Wuwei Cohort, we enrolled 1,739 patients with chronic non-atrophic gastritis (no-CAG), 3,409 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), 1,757 patients with intestinal metaplasia (IM), 2,239 patients with low-grade dysplasia (LGD), and 182 patients with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or GAC to assess the risk factors between each two consecutive stages from no-CAG to GAC/HGD using adjusted logistic regression. We found that different groups of risk factors were associated with different stages. Age, occupation of farmer, low annual family income, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, drinking, eating hot food, histories of gastritis and peptic ulcer were associated with the development of CAG. Age, illiteracy, H. pylori infection, smoking, eating hot food, eating quickly, and histories of gastritis and gallbladder diseases were associated with the progression to IM from CAG. Male, occupation of farmer and history of peptic ulcer were associated with the development of LGD from IM. Age, male and polyp history appeared to be risk factors associated with the development of GAC/HGD from LGD. In conclusion, it seems that most risk factors function more as a set of switches that initiated the GAC carcinogenesis. H. Pylori eradication and control of other risk factors should be conducted before IM to decrease the incidence of GAC.

Management of Helicobacter pylori infection: the Maastricht VI/Florence consensus report

Helicobacter pyloriInfection is formally recognised as an infectious disease, an entity that is now included in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision. This in principle leads to the recommendation that all infected patients should receive treatment. In the context of the wide clinical spectrum associated with Helicobacter pylori gastritis, specific issues persist and require regular updates for optimised management.The identification of distinct clinical scenarios, proper testing and adoption of effective strategies for prevention of gastric cancer and other complications are addressed. H. pylori treatment is challenged by the continuously rising antibiotic resistance and demands for susceptibility testing with consideration of novel molecular technologies and careful selection of first line and rescue therapies. The role of H. pylori and antibiotic therapies and their impact on the gut microbiota are also considered.Progress made in the management of H. pylori infection is covered in the present sixth edition of the Maastricht/Florence 2021 Consensus Report, key aspects related to the clinical role of H. pylori infection were re-evaluated and updated. Forty-one experts from 29 countries representing a global community, examined the new data related to H. pylori infection in five working groups: (1) indications/associations, (2) diagnosis, (3) treatment, (4) prevention/gastric cancer and (5) H. pylori and the gut microbiota. The results of the individual working groups were presented for a final consensus voting that included all participants. Recommendations are provided on the basis of the best available evidence and relevance to the management of H. pylori infection in various clinical fields.

A model established using marital status and other factors from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for early stage gastric cancer

Currently, the postoperative prognosis of early stage gastric cancer (GC) is difficult to accurately predict. In particular, social factors are not frequently used in the prognostic assessment of early stage GC. Therefore, this study aimed to combine the clinical indicators and social factors to establish a predictive model for early stage GC based on a new scoring system. A total of 3647 patients with early stage GC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database were included in this study. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare differences in prognosis between different marital status, as an innovative prognostic indicator. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to screen available prediction factors and then build a nomogram using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis revealed that age at diagnosis, sex, histology, stage_T, surgery, tumor size, and marital status were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. Both the C-index and calibration curves confirmed that the nomogram had a great predictive effect on patient prognosis in training and testing sets. This nomogram based on clinical indicators and marital status can effectively help patients with early stage GC in the future.

Assessment of Outcomes From 1-Year Surveillance After Detection of Early Gastric Cancer Among Patients at High Risk in Japan

IMPORTANCE

Single endoscopic examination often misses early gastric cancer (GC), even when both high-definition white light imaging and narrow-band imaging are used. It is unknown whether new GC can be detected approximately 1 year after intensive index endoscopic examination.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether new GC can be detected approximately 1 year after intensive index endoscopic examination using both white light and narrow-band imaging.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This case-control study was a preplanned secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial involving 4523 patients with a high risk of GC who were enrolled between October 1, 2014, and September 22, 2017. Data were analyzed from December 26, 2019, to April 21, 2021. Participants in the clinical trial received index endoscopy to detect early GC via 2 examinations of the entire stomach using white light and narrow-band imaging. The duration of follow-up was 15 months. The secondary analysis included 107 patients with newly detected GC (case group) and 107 matched patients without newly detected GC (control group) within 15 months after index endoscopy.

INTERVENTIONS

Surveillance endoscopy was scheduled between 9 and 15 months after index endoscopy. If new lesions suspected of being early GC were detected during surveillance endoscopy, biopsies were obtained to confirm the presence of cancer.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary end point was the rate of new GC detected within 15 months after index endoscopy. The main secondary end point was identification of risk factors associated with new GC detected within 15 months after index endoscopy.

RESULTS

Among 4523 patients (mean [SD] age, 70.6 [7.5] years; 3527 men [78.0%]; all of Japanese ethnicity) enrolled in the clinical trial, 4472 received index endoscopy; the rate of early GC detected on index endoscopy was 3.0% (133 patients). Surveillance endoscopy was performed in 4146 of 4472 patients (92.7%) who received an index endoscopy; the rate of new GC detected within 15 months after index endoscopy was 2.6% (107 patients). Among 133 patients for whom early GC was detected during index endoscopy, 110 patients (82.7%) received surveillance endoscopy within 15 months after index endoscopy; the rate of newly detected GC was 10.9% (12 patients). For the secondary analysis of risk factors associated with newly detected GC, characteristics were well balanced between the 107 patients included in the case group vs the 107 patients included in the matched control group (mean [SD] age, 71.7 [7.2] years vs 71.8 [7.0] years; 94 men [87.9%] in each group; 82 patients [76.6%] vs 87 patients [81.3%] with a history of gastric neoplasm). Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of open-type atrophic gastritis (odds ratio, 6.00; 95% CI, 2.25-16.01; P < .001) and early GC detection by index endoscopy (odds ratio, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.08-20.21; P = .04) were independent risk factors associated with new GC detection.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, the rate of new GC detected by surveillance endoscopy approximately 1 year after index endoscopy was similar to that of early GC detected by index endoscopy. These findings suggest that 1-year surveillance is warranted for patients at high risk of GC.

Early gastric cancer detection in high-risk patients: a multicentre randomised controlled trial on the effect of second-generation narrow band imaging

OBJECTIVE

Early detection of gastric cancer has been the topic of major efforts in high prevalence areas. Whether advanced imaging methods, such as second-generation narrow band imaging (2G-NBI) can improve early detection, is unknown.

DESIGN

This open-label, randomised, controlled tandem trial was conducted in 13 hospitals. Patients at increased risk for gastric cancer were randomly assigned to primary white light imaging (WLI) followed by secondary 2G-NBI (WLI group: n=2258) and primary 2G-NBI followed by secondary WLI (2G-NBI group: n=2265) performed by the same examiner. Suspected early gastric cancer (EGC) lesions in both groups were biopsied. Primary endpoint was the rate of EGC patients in the primary examination. The main secondary endpoint was the positive predictive value (PPV) for EGC in suspicious lesions detected (primary examination).

RESULTS

EGCs were found in 44 (1.9%) and 53 (2.3%; p=0.412) patients in the WLI and 2G-NBI groups, respectively, during primary EGD. In a post hoc analysis, the overall rate of lesions detected at the second examination was 25% (n=36/145), with no significant differences between groups. PPV for EGC in suspicious lesions was 13.5% and 20.9% in the WLI (50/371 target lesions) and 2G-NBI groups (59/282 target lesions), respectively (p=0.015).

CONCLUSION

The overall sensitivity of primary endoscopy for the detection of EGC in high-risk patients was only 75% and should be improved. 2G-NBI did not increase EGC detection rate over conventional WLI. The impact of a slightly better PPV of 2G-NBI has to be evaluated further.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

UMIN000014503.

Endoscopic three-categorical diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection using linked color imaging and deep learning: a single-center prospective study (with video)

BACKGROUND

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication is required to reduce incidence related to gastric cancer. Recently, it was found that even after the successful eradication of H. pylori, an increased, i.e., moderate, risk of gastric cancer persists in patients with advanced mucosal atrophy and/or intestinal metaplasia. This study aimed to develop a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system to classify the status of H. pylori infection of patients into three categories: uninfected (with no history of H. pylori infection), currently infected, and post-eradication.

METHODS

The CAD system was based on linked color imaging (LCI) combined with deep learning (DL). First, a validation dataset was formed for the CAD systems by recording endoscopic movies of 120 subjects. Next, a training dataset of 395 subjects was prepared to enable DL. All endoscopic examinations were recorded using both LCI and white-light imaging (WLI). These endoscopic data were used to develop two different CAD systems, one for LCI (LCI-CAD) and one for WLI (WLI-CAD) images.

RESULTS

The diagnostic accuracy of the LCI-CAD system was 84.2% for uninfected, 82.5% for currently infected, and 79.2% for post-eradication status. Comparisons revealed superior accuracy of diagnoses based on LCI-CAD data relative based on WLI-CAD for uninfected, currently infected, and post-eradication cases. Furthermore, the LCI-CAD system demonstrated comparable diagnostic accuracy to that of experienced endoscopists with the validation data set of LCI.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest the feasibility of an innovative gastric cancer screening program to determine cancer risk in individual subjects based on LCI-CAD.

Quality Indicators for the Detection of Helicobacter pylori-Negative Early Gastric Cancer: A Retrospective Observational Study

Background/Aims

While Helicobacter pylori (HP)-negative gastric cancer is frequently reported, little is known about the predictors for detecting HP-negative early gastric cancer (EGC). We aimed to evaluate the predictors for the detection of HP-negative EGC.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 13,477 consecutive asymptomatic cases where upper endoscopy was performed by nine physicians from April 2017 to March 2019 and analyzed the detection rate of high-risk lesions (HRLs), including EGC, tubular adenoma, and lymphoma, according to the status of HP infection. The observation time was corrected for multiple regression analyses.

Results

For all physicians, the average observation time for screening HP-eradicated and -naïve patients was shorter than that for screening HP-positive patients (p<0.05). Multiple regression analyses revealed that the observation time in the three groups was an independent predictor for detecting HRLs in HP-eradicated patients (p=0.03106, 0.01263, and 0.02485, respectively), while experience of endoscopy was an independent predictor for detecting HRLs in HP-naïve patients (p=0.02638).

Conclusions

While observation time during screening endoscopy was a quality indicator for detecting HRLs in HP-eradicated patients, experience of endoscopy was a quality indicator for detecting HRLs in HP-naïve patients.

Gastric Cancer Screening by Combined Determination of Serum Helicobacter pylori Antibody and Pepsinogen Concentrations: ABC Method for Gastric Cancer Screening

Objective:

Gastroscopy combined with gastric mucosa biopsies is currently regarded as a gold standard for diagnosis of gastric cancer. However, its application is restricted in clinical practice due to its invasive property. A new noninvasive population screening process combining the assay of anti-Helicobacter pylori antibody and serum pepsinogen (PG) (ABC method) is adopted to recognize the high-risk patients for further endoscopy examination, avoiding the unnecessary gastroscopy for most population and saving the cost consumption for mass screening annually. Nevertheless, controversies exist for the grouping of ABC method and the intervals of gastroscopy surveillance for each group. In this review, we summarized these popular concerned topics for providing useful references to the healthcare practitioner in clinical practice.

Data Sources:

The PubMed databases were systematically searched from the inception dates to November 22, 2017, using the keywords “Helicobacter pylori,” “Pepsinogens,” and “Stomach Neoplasms.”

Study Selection:

Original articles and reviews on the topics were selected.

Results:

Anti-H. pylori antibody and serum PG concentration showed significant changes under the different status of H. pylori infection and the progression of atrophic gastritis, which can be used for risk stratification of gastric cancer in clinic. In addition, anti-H. pylori antibody titer can be used for further risk stratification of gastric cancer contributing to determine better endoscopy surveillance interval.

Conclusions:

The early detection and diagnosis of gastric cancer benefit from the risk stratification, but the cutoff values for H. pylori antibody and serum PG concentration require further modification.

Early detection of gastric cancer after Helicobacter pylori eradication due to endoscopic surveillance

BACKGROUND

Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy is commonly performed to reduce the incidence of gastric cancer. However, gastric cancer is occasionally discovered even after successful eradication therapy. Therefore, we examined the prognosis of gastric cancer patients, diagnosed after successful H. pylori eradication therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All-cause death rates and gastric cancer-specific death rates in gastric cancer patients who received successful H. pylori eradication treatment was tracked and compared to rates in patients who did not receive successful eradication therapy.

RESULTS

In total, 160 gastric cancer patients were followed-up for up to 11.7 years (mean 3.5 years). Among them, 53 gastric cancer patients received successful H. pylori eradication therapy prior to gastric cancer diagnosis. During the follow-up period, 11 all-cause deaths occurred. In the successful eradication group, the proportion of patients with cancer stage I was higher. The proportions of patients who received curative endoscopic therapy and endoscopic examination in the 2 years prior to gastric cancer diagnosis were also higher in the successful eradication group. Kaplan-Meier analysis of all-cause death and gastric cancer-specific death revealed a lower death rate in patients in the successful eradication group (P = .0139, and P = .0396, respectively, log-rank test). The multivariate analysis showed that endoscopy within 2 years before cancer diagnosis is associated with stage I cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Possible early discovery of gastric cancer after H. pylori eradication due to regular endoscopic surveillance may contribute to better prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.

Characteristics and predictors of gastric cancer after Helicobacter pylori eradication

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication can reduce gastric cancer. However, gastric cancer still develops after eradication, and cases who received eradication therapy are increasing. In this study, we have reviewed the characteristics and predictors of primary gastric cancer developing after H. pylori eradication. In terms of the characteristics, endoscopic, histologic, and molecular characteristics are reported. Endoscopically, gastric cancer after eradication is often depressed-type and shows a gastritis-like appearance, which sometimes makes the diagnosis difficult. Histologically, most gastric cancer after eradication is intestinal type, and non-neoplastic epithelium, also called epithelium with low-grade atypia, is frequently seen over the tumor, which is presumably the cause of the endoscopic gastritis-like appearance. As for molecular characteristics, some markers, such as Ki67, MUC2, and Wnt5a expression, are lower in cancer from patients in whom H. pylori has been eradicated. In terms of predictors, several Japanese studies have reported that severe endoscopic atrophy at eradication is a risk factor for gastric cancer development. Histologic intestinal metaplasia, especially in the corpus, and long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, are also reported as risk factors for gastric cancer after H. pylori eradication. These studies on the characteristics and predictors of gastric cancer development will become the cornerstone for establishing a novel surveillance program based on the gastric cancer risk stratification specific to H. pylori-eradicated patients.

Insights into gastric neuroendocrine tumors burden

Type 1 gastric neuroendocrine tumors (gNETs) are usually small lesions, restricted to mucosal and sub-mucosal layers of corpus and fundus, with low aggressive behavior, for the majority of cases. Nevertheless, some cases present aggressive behavior. The increasing incidence of gNETs brings together a new relevant problem: how to identify potentially aggressive type 1 gNETs. The challenging problem seems to be finding out signs or features able to predict potentially aggressive cases, allowing a tailored approach, since the involved societies dedicated to provide guidelines for management of these neoplasms apparently failed in producing staging systems able to accurately predict prognosis of these tumors. Additionally, it is also important to try to find out explanations for increasing incidence, as well as to identify potential targets aiming to reach better control of this neoplasia. Here, we discuss potential pathways implicated in aggressive behavior, as well as new strategies to improve clinical management of these tumors.