Removing gut bacteria from stomach cancer patients greatly reduces the risk of cancer recurrence, a Japanese study has found.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that getting rid of Helicobacter pylori reduced the risk of further stomach cancer by about two-thirds over three years

The American Cancer Society (ACS) on Monday reported that an estimated 7.6 million people around the world died from various types of cancer, out of the 12.3 million total number who were diagnosed with the disease in 2007.

In a statement via phone interview, ACS epidemiologist Ahmedin Jemal said "cancer is increasing in developing countries as people embrace habits linked to cancer such as smoking and fattier diets

Cancer is caused not just by anomalous cells but also by infections from viruses, bacteria and parasites.

"I believe that, conservatively, 15 to 20 percent of all cancer is caused by infections, however, the number could be larger, maybe double," says Dr. Andrew J. Dannenberg, director of the Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

A team of U.S. researchers has found that the two genes associated with the potency of Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, becomes more active if the person consumes more salt.

Presenting the results at the American Society for Microbiology conference, the researchers said that higher salt intake is linked to gastric cancer. Since H. pylori lives in the stomach, it accounts for up to 90 percent of duodenal ulcers and up to 80 percent of gastric ulcers

People who suffer from atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis might blame it on their ulcer.

Researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) working with European researchers found that the peptic ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) can reach blood circulation