Human papillomavirus and Helicobacter pylori co-infection in gastric cancer patients

Background and Aim: Recent research has highlighted the potential interplay between human papillomavirus (HPV) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections in gastric cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori and HPV co-infection and its association with tumor characteristics in individuals diagnosed with gastric cancer. Methods: In this descriptive study, 32 gastric cancer tissue samples and 32 healthy gastric tissue samples were collected from people referred to a hospital in Iran. DNA extraction was performed using a Biogen kit, and Real-time PCR was utilized to detect HPV and H. pylori infections through L1 and cagA gene primers, respectively. Results: Over 50% of the cancer samples were classified as stage III. Helicobacter pylori infection was detected in 26 cancer tissues (81.2%) and 22 healthy tissues (67.8%). Additionally, four cancer tissue samples (12.5%) tested positive for HPV infection, while no HPV infection cases were observed in the control group. A significant association was found between H. pylori infection and various tumor characteristics, including staging, grade, tumor size, lymph node involvement, and histology in gastric cancer patients. Moreover, HPV infection showed a significant correlation with gastric cancer staging. However, no significant relationship was observed between the co-infection of H. pylori and HPV with gastric cancer. Conclusion: The study results did not reveal a significant association between the co-infection of H. pylori and HPV with gastric cancer. Nevertheless, a notable relationship between H. pylori and HPV co-infection and gastric cancer staging was observed, highlighting the complexity of interactions between these infectious agents in gastric carcinogenesis.