Gwen Murphy

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Imperial College London

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PLCO (Learn more about this study)

2013-0035

Mar 4, 2013

Evaluation of serum antibodies to Helicobacter pylori proteins and hepatobiliary cancers

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram negative bacteria which can colonize the stomach and is a strong risk factor for ulcer and gastric cancer. Other helicobacter species may also be important for health and a growing body of literature supports a possible role of Helicobacter species (spp) in extragastric cancers, and in hepatobiliary cancers specifically.

Hepatobiliary cancers are the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and have very poor five-year survival. H. pylori and likely other Helicobacter spp are amenable to antibiotic intervention, such that a causal association between Helicobacter spp and hepatobiliary cancers is of potential public health importance. We have recently found a statistically significant increase in risk of biliary cancer for individuals seropositive for antibodies to a number of H. pylori proteins in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. Although the prevalence of H. pylori infection was also higher in liver cancer cases, relative to controls, the association became attenuated after a multivariate adjustment. In contrast, we found that individuals who were seropositive for antibodies to a combination of four H. pylori proteins (GroEL, UreA, HP0305 and Omp) had a ninefold increase in risk of biliary cancer relative to those we were seronegative for all four. This is a novel finding, and we are looking to replicate it in the high quality prospectively collected samples of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.

We propose, therefore, to assess whether seropositivity to antibodies against 23 H. pylori proteins is associated with subsequent risk of hepatobiliary cancer using serum samples from 186 cases (n=107 liver, n=27 gallbladder and n=52 other biliary cancer cases) and matched controls in PLCO.