Background:

Recent evidence suggests that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Helicobacter pylori co-infection increase the prevalence of gastric cancer in the younger age group and are associated with poor prognosis. Identifying the association between these agents has important implications for the management of gastric cancer and also for defining populations at high risk of developing gastric malignancy.

Aims:

To determine the prevalence of H. pylori and EBV co-infection in patients with gastric cancer.

Methods:

This is a single-center prospective analytical study. A total of 182 patients were included. The study group (n=91) comprised all consecutive patients of age ≥18 years with gastric cancer. The control group (n=91) included individuals with normal endoscopy findings. Both groups were analyzed for the presence of H. pylori and EBV.

Results:

The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection in gastric cancer patients was 70.3%, EBV infection was 63.7%, and H. pylori and EBV co-infection was 51.6%. The H. pylori and EBV co-infection in the study and control groups was 51.6% versus 13.1% (p<0.001). The remaining parameters such as smoking, socioeconomic class, dietary habits, prior gastric surgery, tumor location, histological subtype, stage of the tumor, distant metastasis, and lymph node metastasis did not show any significance.

Conclusions:

There was a significantly higher prevalence of EBV infection and H. pylori and EBV co-infection in patients with gastric cancer. The prognostic and therapeutic role of co-infection requires long-term follow-up and assessment of treatment response.