[Helicobacter pylori -- 2014].

The author reviews the main achievements in Helicobacter pylori research in the past 2 years. Of the more than 1000 microRNAs described thus far, sets of over- and underexpressed samples were identified that are associated with either gastric cancer or precancerous lesions, and some of them could be either markers or therapeutic targets in the near future. Meta-analyses involved 95 new publications: the association between infection and oesophageal, colorectal, pancreatic and liver carcinomas is supported by the increased odds ratios, but the results do not reach the strength seen in gastric carcinoma. Epstein-Barr virus is an emerging pathogen: 10% of gastric cancers are virus-associated; the prevalence of the virus in normal mucosa, chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer are currently being studied. Current Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens frequently achieve suboptimal results: a few optimisation methods are presented, although not all are supported by the meta-analyses. In 2013, the European Helicobacter Study Group proposed the development of a pan-European registry; data from 5792 patients registered so far indicated that many therapeutic regimens resulted in a low eradication rate. In 2013, the Healthy Stomach Initiative was started with the aim of supporting and disseminating research performed in the field of healthy and diseased stomachs.