Estimation of gastric cancer burden attributable to Helicobacter pylori infection in Asia.

Background: Helicobacter pylori causes large burden of gastric cancer (GC) in Asia. We aimed to comprehensively quantify the burden of GC attributable to H. pylori infection in Asia.

Methods: We searched related articles from January 1998 to December 2020 to obtain the prevalence and relative risks (or odds ratio) of GC associated with H. pylori in Asia. The burden of GC attributable to H. pylori infection was quantified by Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and Disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs).

Results: We quantified the burden of GC attributable to H. pylori infection with 415.6 thousand DALYs and 38.03% PAF through the five included Asian countries in 2019. The study found that the burden had obvious regional differences. The DALYs ranged from 298.9 thousand in China to 1.9 thousand in Malaysia, and the PAFs were between 58.00% in Japan and 30.89% in China. The average prevalence of H. pylori in the included general population was estimated to be 56.29%.

Conclusions: Helicobacter pylori poses a huge disease burden of GC to the population, and its eradication should receive attention, especially in the countries with high incidence of and mortality due to GC.