A study aims to analyze why helicobacter pylori bacterium causes more stomach cancer or gastric cancer in some areas than in others.
Stomach cancer is caused in more than 90% of cases by this bacterium: in countries where the bacterium is not, there are no cases of this type of cancer.
For instance, the United States and Canada are countries that eliminated helicobacter pylori bacterium and they don’t longer have gastric cancer. They eliminated it by applying extreme hygiene measures, but it has also been seen that there are countries where there is a lot of helicobacter pylori and there is gastric cancer. This was observed for the first time in Africa,
said Paula González, director of the Costa Rican Agency for Biomedical Research (ACIB).
In Latin America, as well as in Costa Rica, it has been observed that, although the prevalence of the bacterium is quite similar throughout the country, in the higher areas there are more cases of gastric cancer, such as in Los Santos. However, in Guanacaste, gastric cancer cases are almost null.
However, it is unknown what the reason for these differences is. According to González, in other countries of the region, such as Colombia, Chile, Spain or Portugal, this pattern is repeated.
The research is endorsed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, where the study of these patterns started many years ago.
Now they intend to take 2 areas of a country, including Costa Rica, in which there is Helicobacter pylori bacterium and compare them to find what are the cofactors that could influence the development of cancer.
International studies have achieved several theories of cofactors towards the development of cancer but to date none of them has been proven:
-High salt consumption.
-Genetics: It is said that people who have African ancestry do not suffer from this cancer.
-Other infections become a protector: If you have other infections with parasites, which inhibit the immune system, it may protect you from this disease.
The study has a a partial financing. there is one part missing to carry out the study in national territory.