Linqu County, China: A large medical trial reveals possible new therapy to eradicate the primary risk factor for gastric cancer
Every year about 300,000 adults in China die from gastric cancer and 400,000 new cases are diagnosed. Gastric cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, the 9th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and the leading cause of cancer deaths in China. The newly released results of a recent study point to new quadruple therapy to eradicate the primary risk factor for gastric cancer, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).
A preliminary study of 263 participants to evaluate the compliance and safety of a new quadruple therapy was conducted in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China in June-August 2008. The therapy to eradicate a bacteria, H. pylori, the primary risk-factor for gastric cancer, met expectations with an eradication rate of 83.33%. Previously a 7-day, triple treatment was used in Linqu that yielded a 69.6% eradication rate. The new quadruple therapy consists of omeprazole, tetracycline, metronidazole, and bismuth citrate and was applied three times a day.
The newest therapy has evolved over 25 years of studies involving over 3,300 people in Linqu. A highly skilled team of internationally recognized experts, all members of the International Digestive Cancer Alliance (IDCA), have led these collaborative studies. The Peking University School of Oncology is now a designated Gastric Cancer Institute of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the Chinese Ministry of Public Health, because of the high quality of gastric cancer research conducted in Linqu.
Later in 2009, IDCA will host a symposium about the Linqu Country trial where the trial results will be reviewed in more detail.
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