Abstract
Objective: To investigate the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori), a key pathogen in chronic gastritis and recognized as a major cause of gastric cancer, in cancer samples and adjacent normal tissues of the head and neck region.
Method: Twenty-eight fresh-frozen HNSCC samples and 11 biopsies from normal tissue were obtained from fully informed and consented patients at GSHU. From 8 of these cancer samples adjacent normal tissue was available. FISH using a probe for H pylori was used to examine sections of these samples and enumerate the bacterium.
Results: The average number of H pylori per biopsy section was significantly higher in the SCC group (P < .03) than controls for all sites examined. Most interestingly, in paired SCC and adjacent normal biopsies from the same patient the average number of H pylori per biopsy was significantly higher in the SCC tissue compared with the adjacent normal tissue (P < .006). These data indicate that H pylori shows a numerical and spatial association with squamous cell cancer lesions of the head and neck.
Conclusion: The fact that H pylori is present in higher numbers in the tumor tissue compared with adjacent tissue and tissue obtained from healthy individuals suggests either a predisposition for the colonization of SCC with H pylori, or a causative role for the bacterium in cancer at these sites.
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