Table 1

Characteristics of the individual studies and the overall association between Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer

All casesControls
StudyMean (range) age of cases at diagnosisSex ratio among cases (% male)Median interval (y)1-150TotalHp +ve (%)TotalHp +ve (%)Matched OR(95% CI)
UK12 23 54 (39–69)1008.75667.917441.43.471-151 (1.75–6.85)1-151
USA (California)4 68 (44–90)6915.011184.711160.43.701-151 (1.84–7.44)1-151
USA (Hawaii)5 72 (56–85)10013.810994.510976.16.00(2.08–17.3)
Taiwan13 63 (43–80)1002.02969.022058.61.55(0.68–3.54)
Finland I14 62 (32–85)625.18486.914682.91.50(0.70–3.22)
China I15 16 63 (49–76)1004.818889.454882.31.84(1.08–3.11)
Sweden7 56 (38–70)935.15682.122449.15.00(2.34–10.7)
Japan17 69 (46–86)583.64591.122575.63.38(1.15–9.90)
Norway18 56 (34–68)7512.020879.898363.02.26(1.55–3.28)
Iceland1-152 72 (55–89)7115.04178.020267.81.67(0.76–3.65)
Finland II1-152 63 (52–75)1004.112085.827269.92.26(1.26–4.05)
China II24 61 (36–75)623.618162.419251.61.661-151 (1.08–2.54)
Total62 (32–90)826.0122881.2340666.11-153 2.36(1.98–2.81)
  • 1-150 Interval between collection of blood sample used forH pylori serology and cancer diagnosis.

  • 1-151 Odds ratios (OR) differ from published results due to changes in study sample (UK and California) and use of matching (China II). Published results are UK OR 2.77 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–7.97)15 and OR 4.0 (1.9–8.2)23; California OR 3.6 (1.8–7.3)4; and China II OR 2.0 (1.3–3.2).24

  • 1-152 Unpublished data.

  • 1-153 Weighted by the number of cases per study to allow for different matching ratios.