Association of Helicobacter pylori-dependent gastritis with gastric carcinomas in young Japanese patients: histopathological comparison of diffuse and intestinal type cancer cases

Aims : The causal relationship of H. pylori gastric colonization with gastric cancer development has not as yet been fully elucidated. The prevalence of H. pylori infection increases with age in the asymptomatic population in Japan, and reaches a high plateau in those older than 40 years. The objective of this study was to assess the link between H. pylori and gastric carcinomas in patients younger than 40 years. Methods and results : Detection of H. pylori and assessment of background mucosa based on the Sydney system was performed histopathologically for 40 Japanese gastric cancer cases younger than 40 years and compared with 40 age‐ and sex‐matched controls. H. pylori infection in gastric mucosa was detected significantly more frequently (P