High frequency of CagA+Helicobacter pylori infection in high-grade gastric MALT B-cell lymphomas

✍ Scribed by Peng, Huaizheng; Ranaldi, Renzo; Diss, Tim C.; Isaacson, Peter G.; Bearzi, Italo; Pan, Langxing

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 341 KB
• Volume: 185
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3417
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(199808)185:4<409::aid-path121>3.0.co;2-t

✦ Synopsis

A high incidence of

Helicobacter pylori infection has been found in patients with gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) B-cell lymphoma. Recent studies have indicated that the aggressive strains of the bacterium containing the CagA gene may have direct effects on tumourigenesis. To investigate the involvement of CagA+ strains in MALT lymphomagenesis, a sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection assay for the gene was developed. DNA extracts from paraffin sections of 123 H. pylori-related gastric biopsies from Italy were analysed, including 56 cases of chronic gastritis, 37 low-grade, and 30 high-grade MALT lymphomas: 30•3 per cent (17/56) of the gastritis cases, 37•8 per cent (14/37) of the low-grade, and 76•7 per cent (23/30) of the high-grade MALT lymphomas were found to contain the CagA gene. The frequency of CagA+ strain infection was signfiicantly higher (P<0•05) in high-grade than in low-grade MALT lymphoma or gastritis. These results suggest that high-grade gastric MALT lymphoma transformation may be more likely to occur following infection by CagA+ strains of H. pylori. 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.