Prevalence of infection among patients with esophageal carcinoma.

Background: () is a widespread microorganism related to gastric adenocarcinoma (AC). In contrast, it has been reported that an inverse association exists between infection and esophageal carcinoma. The mechanisms underlying this supposedly protective effect remain controversial.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of infection in esophageal carcinoma patients, we performed a retrospective observational study of esophageal tumors diagnosed in our hospital.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the prevalence of infection in a cohort of patients diagnosed with esophageal carcinoma. Concomitant or previous proton pump inhibitor (PPI) usage was also recorded.

Results: A total of 89 patients with esophageal carcinoma (69 males, 77.5%), with a mean age of 66 years (range, 26-93 years) were included. AC was the most frequent pathological variant ( = 47, 52.8%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma ( = 37, 41.6%). Fourteen ACs (29.8%) originated in the gastroesophageal junction and 33 (70.2%) in the esophageal body. Overall, 54 patients (60.7%) presented at stages III and IV. Previous infection occurred only in 4 patients (4.5%), 3 with AC (6.3% of all ACs) and 1 with squamous cell carcinoma (2.7% of all squamous cell tumors). All patients with previous infection had stage III-IV. Only one patient had received prior eradication therapy, whereas 86 (96.6%) had received previous or concomitant PPI treatment.

Conclusion: In our cohort of patients, and after histologic evaluation of paraffin-embedded primary tumors, we found a very low prevalence of previous infection. We also reviewed the medical history of the patients, concluding that the majority had received or were on PPI treatment. The minimal prevalence of infection found in this cohort of patients with esophageal carcinoma suggests a protective role.