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.
H. pylori, which has been classified as a group I carcinogen for stomach cancer by the World Health Organization, is a leading cause of stomach ulcers and also is associated with stomach cancer and other ailments.
The new discovery could prove useful for people who have surgery to remove stomach cancer, reports said.
The study, led by Dr. Mototsugu Kato and Dr. Masahiro Asaka of Hokkaido University in Japan, included 544 patients who had surgery to remove early stomach cancer. Half of those in the study received antibiotics to remove H. pylori while the other half received no treatment.
The eradication group received 30 milligrams of lansoprazole twice daily, 750 milligrams of amoxicillin twice daily, and 200 milligrams of clarithromycin twice a day for a week, Health Day news reported.
The results after three years indicated that stomach cancer had recurred in nine eradication group patients and in 24 control group patients. The eradication group patients were two-thirds less likely to suffer cancer recurrence than those in the control group, the researchers said.
About 21,500 cases of stomach cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, according to the American Cancer Society, and 10,880 will die.
