Review Article

The Human Gastric Pathogen Helicobacter pylori and Its Association with Gastric Cancer and Ulcer Disease

Figure 5

Time line of disease progression in H. pylori-infected persons. All infected individuals develop a superficial gastritis within the first weeks of infection, followed by a chronic active gastritis which develops after months or years. After decades, patients can develop antral gastritis or pangastritis, depending on the localization of the infection. The antral inflammation can lead to gastric metaplasia, which supports the growth of duodenal ulcer. The latter can lead to atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, two prerequisites for the development of gastric cancer or gastric ulcer. In contrast, constant chronic active gastritis can lead to the growth of MALT lymphomas. Adapted from Telford et al. [96].
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