Chinese doctors make major breakthrough in stomach cancer detection

Doctors from Shanghai Renji Hospital have discovered for the first time in the world that an elevated presence of two types of streptococcus in a person's feces may indicate a high risk for stomach cancer, potentially aiding in the early detection of the disease, the hospital said on Wednesday.

The team led by professor Fang Jingyuan from the digestive medicine department of the hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine has already transferred the patent from the doctors, and the development of a test kit that can alert to stomach cancer through analyzing fecal microbiota is underway, said the hospital.

The two types of streptococcus are Streptococcus constellatus and Streptococcus anginosus in feces.

"This non-invasive method could revolutionize the way stomach cancer and its precancerous conditions are screened for," said Fang, whose team has been making a series of contributions in the early diagnosis and prevention of gastrointestinal cancer and its precancerous diseases.

Stomach cancer is one of the malignancies with high global incidence and mortality rates, with chronic atrophic gastritis being a primary precancerous condition.

Early screening for stomach cancer has been a challenge for a long time, with the techniques and economic cost of gastroscopy limiting its suitability for large-scale screening, said medical experts.

Researchers on the team said the anticipated test kit for stomach cancer holds significant clinical values, and has the potential to bring hopes to a large number of patients in the future.