Serum gastrin and Helicobacter pylori infection correlate with tumor aggressiveness and prognosis in gastric cancer

doi:10.4251/wjgo.v17.i9.110981

Advanced Search

BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge

Home / Archive / Volume 17, Issue 9

This Article

Academic Content and Language Evaluation of This Article

CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article

Academic Rules and Norms of This Article

Citation of this article

Corresponding Author of This Article

Research Domain of This Article

Article-Type of This Article

Open-Access Policy of This Article

Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article

Number of Hits and Downloads for This Article

Total Article Views (0)

All Articles published online

The chart showing PDF series, HTML series, Figures (1-3) series, Tables (1-4) series.

Item

Count

PDF

HTML

Figures (1-3)

Tables (1-4)

Sum=0

Sep 15, 2025 (publication date) through Sep 15, 2025

Times Cited of This Article

Times Cited (0)

Journal Information of This Article

Publication Name

World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology

ISSN

1948-5204

Publisher of This Article

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Observational Study

World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2025; 17(9): 110981
Published online Sep 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i9.110981

Serum gastrin and Helicobacter pylori infection correlate with tumor aggressiveness and prognosis in gastric cancer

Jun-Wen Huang, Chen Lin, Chen-Jia Lu, Hua-Shou Wang, Dan-Dan Zou

Jun-Wen Huang, Chen Lin, Chen-Jia Lu, Hua-Shou Wang, Dan-Dan Zou, Department of Pathology, People’s Hospital of Longhua District, Shenzhen 518110, Guangdong Province, China

Author contributions: Huang JW, Lu CJ, Wang HS, and Zou DD contributed to writing-review and editing; Huang JW, Lu CJ, and Zou DD wrote original draft; Wang HS and Zou DD contributed to data curation; Lin C and Zou DD contributed to methodology; Huang JW and Wang HS contributed to data analysis; Huang JW and Zou DD contributed to execution of experiments; Huang JW contributed to study design and formal analysis; Lin C contributed to conceptualization; Lu CJ contributed to literature research, investigation, and statistical analysis; Wang HS contributed to experimental studies. All authors approved the final version.

Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by Ethics Committee of People’s Hospital of Longhua District, No. 2025(063).

Informed consent statement: All of the patients had consented to research authorization for record review.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: Individual participant data can be requested and accessed by contacting the study management teams of the studies upon reasonable request.

Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Corresponding author: Chen Lin, Department of Pathology, People’s Hospital of Longhua District, No. 38 Jinglong Jianshe Road, Longhua District, Shenzhen 518110, Guangdong Province, China. chenlincc2024@163.com

Received: June 20, 2025
Revised: July 2, 2025
Accepted: July 31, 2025
Published online: September 15, 2025
Processing time: 87 Days and 19.2 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Both Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and alterations in serum gastrin levels have been implicated in its pathogenesis. However, their associations with tumor characteristics and clinical outcomes require further clarification.

AIM

To investigate the associations of serum gastrin and H. pylori infection with pathology and prognosis in gastric cancer.

METHODS

This hospital-based cohort study included 226 gastric cancer patients undergoing surgery and 100 matched controls from January 2019 to December 2023. Serum gastrin and H. pylori status were assessed and compared. Gastric cancer patients were stratified by biomarker status to analyze associations with tumor-nodes-metastasis (TNM) stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumor differentiation. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate disease-free and overall survival (OS). Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

Gastric cancer patients exhibited significantly higher serum gastrin levels and H. pylori infection rates than controls (P < 0.05). Among gastrin-positive patients, the proportions of advanced TNM stage (III-IV), lymph node metastasis, and poorly differentiated tumors were significantly higher than in gastrin-negative patients (P < 0.05). In contrast, H. pylori infection status showed no significant association with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, or tumor differentiation (P > 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated no significant difference in disease-free survival between gastrin-positive and negative patients (hazard ratio = 1.516, 95% confidence interval: 0.895-2.550), but gastrin-positive patients had significantly worse OS (hazard ratio = 2.717, 95% confidence interval: 1.311-5.633).

CONCLUSION

Gastric cancer patients have elevated serum gastrin and higher H. pylori prevalence; elevated gastrin is associated with aggressive tumor features and poorer OS, indicating prognostic value.

Keywords: Gastrin; Gastric cancer; Helicobacter pylori; Pathological characteristics; Survival curve

Core Tip: This study explores the clinical relevance of serum gastrin and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in gastric cancer. Among 226 patients, elevated serum gastrin, but not H. pylori status, was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage, lymphatic metastasis, and poor differentiation. Notably, gastrin-positive patients had worse overall survival. These findings suggest that hypergastrinemia may serve as a biomarker of tumor aggressiveness and prognosis in gastric cancer, offering potential targets for risk stratification and therapeutic intervention.