Endoscopic risk factors to inform early detection of gastric cancer after Helicobacter pylori eradication: Meta-analysis and systematic review

Objectives

Helicobacter pylori eradication reduces but cannot eliminate the risk of gastric cancer (GC). The prevalence of post-eradication GC has been rising. Characterization of the endoscopic findings of post-eradication GC may facilitate its early detection. We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review to clarify endoscopic risk factors to accelerate the early diagnosis of post-eradication GC.

Methods

Medline and PubMed were searched for randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies published in the English-language medical literature between January 1997 and July 2023. The included articles assessed the correlation between post-eradication GC and pre- and post-eradication endoscopic findings, and associated post-eradication GC with gastric atrophy, intestinal metaplasia (IM), map-like redness, and xanthoma.

Results

A total of 963 articles were retrieved. In these articles, 66 papers were finally included, comprising randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies. The included articles addressed gastric atrophy (16 studies), IM (eight studies), map-like redness (six studies), and xanthoma (two studies). Risk ratio (RR) of incident post-eradication GC was 3.40 (95%confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.98–5.84; p < 0.001) in cases of severe atrophy, 5.38 (95%CI: 3.62–8.00) in cases of severe IM, 2.34 (95%CI: 1.16–4.68) in cases with post-eradication map-like redness, and 2.75 (95% CI: 1.78–4.26) in cases with xanthoma.

Conclusions

Endoscopic atrophy, IM, and xanthoma observed at pre- and post-eradication time points and post-eradication map-like redness were suggested as endoscopic risk factors for post-eradication GC. Further studies are needed to clarify the risk of post-eradication GC based on these risk factors.