Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer patients in French Guiana: a hospital-based study (2018-2023).

BACKGROUND

Helicobacter pylori infection is a major etiological factor for gastric cancer, but its prognostic relevance once invasive gastric cancer has developed remains uncertain in French Guiana.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective hospital-based study including all patients diagnosed with histologically confirmed invasive gastric carcinoma at Cayenne Hospital Center between 2018 and 2023. H. pylori status was assessed by routine histopathology. Sociodemographic, clinicopathological, and histological characteristics, including associated gastric lesions, were collected. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test according to H. pylori status and initial management strategy. Exploratory multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Eighty-two patients were included, of whom 43 (52.4%) were H. pylori-positive. H. pylori positivity was significantly associated with non-active chronic gastritis, whereas H. pylori detection was uncommon in active chronic gastritis. H. pylori status was not associated with tumor location, histological subtype, differentiation, or preneoplastic lesions. Median follow-up was 25.7 months. Overall survival did not differ between H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative patients. In multivariable analyses, H. pylori status was not associated with survival, whereas initial management was strongly associated with outcome, likely reflecting disease stage at diagnosis rather than a causal treatment effect.

CONCLUSION

Routine histology detected H. pylori in about half of gastric tumors, with an association with non-active chronic gastritis. H. pylori status was not associated with survival; differences by initial management likely reflected disease severity, with interpretation limited by incomplete TNM staging.