Identifying host and bacterial biomarkers to predict sepsis
Infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the main risk factor associated with stomach cancer. This risk can result from infection with any type (‘strain’) of H. pylori. However, different strains have different disease-causing potential.
This variation may be due to specific mechanisms by which H. pylori causes DNA damage in the stomach. We have begun to identify strains with different potential to cause cancer and the genes responsible for this. We have a collection of 100 European H. pylori isolates; in addition, we are currently inviting patients undergoing routine gastroscopy (a clinical procedure in which samples of tissue are collected via a tube into the stomach) to participate in research and, following informed consent, collect stomach tissue samples in the Endoscopy Unit, Singleton Hospital. These biopsies are required to grow H. pylori in the laboratory at Swansea University.
We will then study the entire genetic code of the bacteria and assess DNA damage in the stomach of each participants’ stomach tissue. The isolates with potential to cause cancer need further investigation to better understand the mechanism of how they cause cancer. This involves growing them with stomach cell lines. We also have the potential to explore the genes identified in such experiments, in the stomach tissue collected from each participant.
The age-standardised incidence for stomach cancer is slightly higher in Wales compared to England (Cancer Research UK, 2010) .
This project is a collaboration between Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and the internationally recognised Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease and DNA damage groups in the College of Medicine, Swansea University.
Ethical approval has been granted.
This project will identify which H. pylori strains have the greatest potential to cause stomach cancer, to enable more aggressive treatment, improve our knowledge of stomach cancer and lead to better treatments.