APPENDICURE

Dr. Bartlett at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, PA was part of this study. It suggests that H. pylori may play a role in appendix cancer biology (or at least be a marker). I had never heard of “H. pylori” before I read this article: https://jitc.bmj.com/content/13/Suppl_2/A1314

The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer says Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) — a common stomach bacterium — was detected in most appendix cancer tissue samples and was linked with poorer survival.

This doesn’t yet change treatment, but it’s important because it shows how microbes may influence appendix cancer biology and could help guide future therapy or prevention.

Here is what they found:

• H. pylori was found at much higher levels in appendix cancer tissue compared with normal appendix tissue.
• The amount of H. pylori in the tumor correlated with poorer survival, meaning patients whose tumors had more H. pylori tended to have worse outcomes; this was true even after accounting for cancer stage and grade.

I’m going to ask if my husband’s tumor was tested for H. pylori. Here is a clinical trial in relation to this if you want to keep an eye on it: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02387203. It looks like Dr. Sardi at Mercy in Baltimore is part of this study, but results have not yet been published.