Background: Gastric atrophy caused by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a risk factor for gastric cancer. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between gastric cancer risk and tumor markers in the general population.
Materials and methods: A total of 688 volunteers were examined to test their serum pepsinogen (PG) levels and anti-H. pylori antibodies, in addition to a total of 22 serum tumor markers. The participants were classified into four groups according to their anti-H. pylori antibody and serum PG serological status. Accordingly, groups A and D were negative, whereas groups B and C were positive for anti-H. pylori antibodies; and groups A and B were normal, whereas groups C and D were abnormal for serum PG levels. All the blood examination results were statistically evaluated using Student's t-test among these groups.
Results: There were 424, 202, 50, and 12 individuals in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. Because of the small number of participants in groups C and D, we combined these two groups. Compared to the normal group (A), a statistically significant higher in adenosine deaminase level was found in group C+D (p=0.01).
Conclusion: This result supports a previous study indicating that adenosine deaminase is involved in the regulatory system of chronic atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer risk.