A research team has made progress toward the early detection of stomach cancer, one of the three most deadly cancers according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer (GC), is understood to be linked to Helicobacter pylori infections and can be treated successfully with early detection. However, the majority of patients are diagnosed too late for treatment when the cancer has already reached advanced stages. The research paper detailing the study findings was published in the journal Cancer Cell.
The research centered on the genetic patterns of intestinal metaplasia (IM), which is a pre-malignant condition linked to an increased risk of GC. The team performed genomic and epigenomic profiling of 138 IMs from 148 cancer-free patients to identify mutations or patterns that could be used to predict future disease.
"Previous genetic studies on IM have mainly focused on patients who were already diagnosed with stomach cancer but these are limited in their ability to predict who are likely to develop the disease and how the disease will progress," said Professor Patrick Tan, co-lead investigator and Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School. "This new study is the first to comprehensively map out the genetic changes in IM in a cohort of stomach cancer-free subjects, which helps us better predict the possible occurrence and progression of the disease."
The research showed that IM patients with shortened telomeres and chromosomal alterations were more likely to develop GC in the future. Alternatively, IM patients whose epigenomic patterns were similar to non-IM patients did not have disease progression. The study also showed via sequencing that more IM patients had H. pylori infections than what was found by histological examination. The knowledge gained from this study will be used to identify potential biomarkers of stomach cancer.