Biological markers in Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis and carcinoma: the value of a scoring system.

Background: Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis has been linked to the pathogenesis of gastric adenocarcinoma (GA), especially when associated with intestinal metaplasia (IM) and atypia/dysplasia (A/D). We examined p53 expression, ploidy and proliferative activity and assessed H. pylori infection in relationship to IM and/or A/D in cases of gastritis not associated with GA and in cases of GA.