Inflammation and Gastric Cancer: Connecting the Molecular Dots

Juanita Merchant and research investigator Yana Zavros, Ph.D., a collaborator in the study of gastric cancer Photo: Scott Galvin

When it comes to gastric cancer, too little stomach acid can be just as dangerous as too much, according to Juanita L. Merchant, M.D., Ph.D., U-M professor of internal medicine and of molecular and integrative physiology. Both extremes create inflammatory changes in the stomach lining and a condition called chronic atrophic gastritis, which over time often leads to cancer.

Most physicians are aware of the association between chronic inflammation and gastric cancer. They also know that infection with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, if left untreated, can cause stomach cancer. But the fact that lower-than-normal acidity can trigger pre-cancerous changes in the stomach lining is not well known.

“Our research shows that inflammation, regardless of the cause, is the key to the development of gastric cancer,” Merchant says. “We’re finding that there are many mechanisms, in addition to gastrin hypersecretion and H. pylori infection, capable of producing the chronic inflammatory changes that lead to cancer. Our goal is to identify genetic and molecular changes that occur early — for example, during the inflammatory process before cancer develops — and then see if it is possible to reverse those changes.”

—SFP

For an expanded version of the story:
www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/gastriccancer.htm
www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/stomachacid.htm

For patient information on stomach cancer:
www.cancer.med.umich.edu/learn/stomach.htm