Abstract for RoC MGRAPH-14

Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative, multi-flagellated bacterium that colonizes the stomach and causes peptic ulcers. More than half the world’s population is infected with H. pylori with the highest prevalence rates in low- and middle-income countries. The bacterium is spread via person-to-person contact, especially among people of lower socioeconomic status living in crowded conditions and often with poor sanitation. Several international health working groups have linked H. pylori with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Because of these public health concerns, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted a literature-based cancer hazard assessment of H. pylori and recommended that H. pylori be listed as a known human carcinogen in the Report on Carcinogens (RoC), a U.S. Congress-mandated document that provides information on cancer hazards for people residing in the United States. The RoC monograph on H. pylori provides a concise review of the evidence from cancer studies in humans and experimental animals, as well as information on human exposure to H. pylori. As H. pylori is thought to account for 6.2% of all cancer deaths in the world, primarily due to non-cardia gastric cancer, the monograph also provides a summary of the state of the science for prevention of H. pylori-induced cancer, including a review of the effectiveness of intervention studies, cost-benefit analyses, international working group recommendations, and issues and concerns related to programs that would screen people for H. pylori infection and treat those who are infected with antibiotics.

National Toxicology Program (NTP). 2018. Report on Carcinogens monograph on Helicobacter pylori (chronic infection). Research Triangle Park, NC: National Toxicology Program. RoC Monograph 14. https://doi.org/10.22427/ROC-MGRAPH-14