Stomach Bacteria Might Guard Against Certain Throat Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15 — A common stomach bacteria may protect against a certain form of esophageal cancer, a new review suggests.
People with H. pylori strains that also had the CagA gene were almost half as likely to get adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, a cancer that develops in the tube that passes food from the throat to the stomach, according to the report published in the October issue of Cancer Prevention Research.
“CagA-positive strains of H. pylori may decrease the risk of adenocarcinoma by reducing acid production in the stomach and, therefore, reducing acid reflux to the esophagus,” study co-author Dr. Farin Kamangar, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, said in an American Association for Cancer Research news release. “It may also work by decreasing the production of the hormone ghrelin, which is secreted from the stomach to stimulate appetite. A reduction in the level of ghrelin may lead to lower rates of obesity, an important risk factor for adenocarcinoma.”