Carcinogenic bacteria

[5] Animal models have demonstrated Koch's third and fourth postulates for the role of Helicobacter pylori in the causation of stomach cancer.

[6] The mechanism by which H. pylori causes cancer may involve chronic inflammation, or the direct action of some of its virulence factors, for example, CagA has been implicated in carcinogenesis.

[11] Phosphorylated CagA affects cell adhesion, spread and migration[16] but can also induce the release of the proinflammatory chemokine IL-8.

[11] As a by-product H2O2 is produced which causes ROS accumulation and contributes to the oxidative stress that the gastric cells experience during chronic inflammation.

[34] In 1926, Canadian physician Thomas Glover reported that he could consistently isolate a specific bacterium from the neoplastic tissues of animals and humans.

[37] He asserted that a vaccine or anti-serum manufactured from his bacterium could be used to treat cancer patients with varying degrees of success.

[37] According to historical accounts, scientists from the Public Health Service challenged Glover's claims and asked him to repeat his research to better establish quality control.

[39] In 1950, a Newark-based physician named Virginia Livingston published a paper claiming that a specific Mycobacterium was associated with neoplasia.

[40] Livingston continued to research the alleged bacterium throughout the 1950s and eventually proposed the name Progenitor cryptocides as well as developed a treatment protocol.

[39] Other researchers and clinicians who worked with the theory that bacteria could cause cancer, especially from the 1930s to the 1960s, included Eleanor Alexander-Jackson, William Coley, William Crofton, Gunther Enderlein, Franz Gerlach, Josef Issels, Elise L'Esperance, Milbank Johnson, Arthur Kendall, Royal Rife, Florence Seibert, Wilhelm von Brehmer, and Ernest Villequez.