Nearly 20 years ago, it was discovered that bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori were responsible for stomach ulcers. Since then, antibiotics have become the primary therapy used to combat the H. pylori infection, which affects approximately six percent of the world population and is also a primary cause of stomach cancer. But today the bacteria is growing increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

A novel, minimally invasive surgical approach to treat stomach cancer has been shown to have advantages that may make it a preferable treatment for some patients.

Three-day-old broccoli sprouts, a widely available human food, suppressed Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections, according to a report in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. H. pylori infections are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide and are a major cause of stomach cancer.

A small, pilot study in 50 people in Japan suggests that eating two and a half ounces of broccoli sprouts daily for two months may confer some protection against a rampant stomach bug that causes gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer.

A multi-center research team, led by Columbia University Medical Center, has uncovered a major contributor to the cause of stomach cancer – the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. The team described for the first time, that elevated levels of a single proinflammatory cytokine, an immune system protein called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), can start the progression towards stomach cancer.

Researchers have uncovered a big clue as to why some of the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers pose a greater risk for serious problems like stomach cancer than others; it turns out these bacteria can exploit the surrounding stomach cells to protect them from the immune system.

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have identified two potential molecular markers that may predict outcomes for patients with stomach cancer, one of the most common and fatal cancers worldwide.

Based on research using a new mouse model of gastritis and stomach cancer, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that prompt treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections reverses damage to the lining of the stomach that can lead to cancer.

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found that positioning pelvic cancer patients on their stomachs rather than their backs is a better method for delivering radiation therapy. Because patients return for multiple therapies, being able to reproduce the positioning of the patient allowed more precision, which reduces toxicity.

Scientists have identified and described stem cells specific to several tissues and organs of the body — key master cells that give rise to the specialized cell types characteristic of that organ. But to date, it hasn’t been possible to pinpoint functioning stem cells in the stomach, either in laboratory animals or people.

New cases of stomach cancer are set to plummet a further 25 per cent in the West over the next decade, indicates research published ahead of print in the journal Gut.

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found that patients who received a later stage cancer diagnosis were likely to be living in an unsafe neighborhood, using public transportation and traveling at least 45 minutes to get to a doctor's office. The study will be presented at this week's American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) in Los Angeles on April 15.