Antibiotics may not stop gastric lymphoma

STANFORD, Calif., Aug 25, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Stanford University School of Medicine researchers in California say successful eradication of Helicobacter may not prevent future gastric lymphoma.

Dr. Anne Mueller said Helicobacter pylori, a spiral bacterium of the stomach, infects more than half of the world's population. Aside from gastritis and ulcers, H. pylori is also a causative agent of gastric lymphoma, specifically gastric B cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, or MALT.

While antibiotic treatment eradicates the bacteria and promotes tumor regression, the drugs might not be enough to stop recurrent gastric lymphoma caused by H. pylori because resting B cells are left behind.

The findings are published in the September issue of The American Journal of Pathology.