Detection of Helicobacter pylori in gastric cancer tissue through histopathology, immunohistochemistry and real-time reverse transcription-PCR (vol 15, pg 1131, 2020)

Aim:Helicobacter pyloriis usually detected based on hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) features, but, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) are more precise in chronic-gastritis. We evaluated the relevance of these tests in Peruvian gastric cancer samples.Materials & methods:We performed and evaluated H-E, IHC staining and RT-PCR in 288 gastric tumors. Slides were independently evaluated by three pathologists.Results:H. pyloriwas detected in 167/287 through H-E, 140/288 through IHC and 175/288 through RT-PCR, and positive-status were associated (p < 0.001).H. pyloridetection by H-E had a good concordance with IHC (kappa index = 0.632) but poor with RT-PCR (kappa index = 0.317). Higher median gene-copies were found in highH. pyloridensity through H-E or IHC (p < 0.001).Conclusion: H-E evaluation is accurate in gastric cancer, and IHC and RT-PCR can complement its results.