[Science Report]:Bacteria and Stomach Cancer


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Science Report.

Researchers say the bacterium that causes stomach wounds, orulcers, is also the leading cause of stomach cancer. The bacteriumis called Helicobacter pylori. The researchers say doctors may beable to kill the bacteria with antibiotic drugs to help preventstomach cancer.

A new study of the bacteria was published last month in the NewEngland Journal of Medicine. The study was led by Naomi Uemura ofKure Kyosai Hospital in Japan. The Japanese researchers examinedmore than one-thousand-five-hundred patients with ulcers orintestinal problems. More than one-thousand-two-hundred of thepeople were infected with Helicobacter pylori. Two-hundred-eightypeople were not infected with the bacteria.

The scientists studied the patients for up to ten years. Theyfound that killing the bacteria prevented or delayed the developmentof stomach cancer. Almost three percent of the people infected withthe bacteria developed stomach cancer during the study. However,none of the uninfected patients developed cancer. Also, none ofpeople treated with antibiotics to kill the bacteria developedstomach cancer.

Timothy Wang is a scientist at the University of MassachusettsMedical Center in Worcester. He and another researcher examined theresearch. Their comments were published in the same issue of the NewEngland Journal of Medicine. Doctor Wang says Helicobacter pylori iseasy to discover. So doctors may be able to prevent stomach cancerwith antibiotics. He said this kind of program might be attemptedfirst in Japan. This is because stomach cancer is a leading cause ofcancer deaths in Japan. In fact, researchers say cancer of thestomach is the second leading cause of cancer deaths around theworld.

Doctor Wang said Helicobacter pylori is extremely common. In somecountries, ninety percent of the population has been infected withthe bacteria by age nine. In the United States, up to forty percentof the population carries the bacteria. Also, people infectedusually do not show signs of having the bacteria in their bodies.

Scientists says more studies like this will help influence peopleto take part in future programs to destroy the bacteria.

This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Jill Moss.

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