Serum Gastrin Levels Are Associated With Prevalent Neuroendocrine Tumors in Autoimmune Metaplastic Atrophic Gastritis

Am J Gastroenterol. 2025 May 1;120(5):1140-1143. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003235. Epub 2024 Nov 26.

Abstract

Introduction: Autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis (AMAG) is a precancerous condition that predisposes to gastric neuroendocrine tumors (gNETs). There exist no methods to stratify patients with AMAG for gNET risk.

Methods: We identified a cohort of patients with AMAG within a university health system using histopathologic and serologic criteria. We analyzed features predictive of prevalent gNET.

Results: We identified 181 patients with AMAG and 41 (22.7%) with prevalent gNET. Gastrin levels were elevated in gNET (1,859.8 vs 679.5 pg/mL, P < 0.001), and gastrin titers demonstrated good discrimination (c = 0.799, 95% CI 0.707-0.892) for gNET.

Discussion: Gastrin levels differ significantly between patients with AMAG with and without gNET.

Keywords: autoimmune gastritis; biomarker; cancer surveillance; gastric neuroendocrine tumors.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Autoimmune Diseases* / blood
  • Autoimmune Diseases* / complications
  • Autoimmune Diseases* / pathology
  • Female
  • Gastrins* / blood
  • Gastritis, Atrophic* / blood
  • Gastritis, Atrophic* / complications
  • Gastritis, Atrophic* / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Metaplasia
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors* / blood
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors* / epidemiology
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors* / pathology
  • Precancerous Conditions* / blood
  • Precancerous Conditions* / pathology
  • Prevalence
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Stomach Neoplasms* / blood
  • Stomach Neoplasms* / epidemiology
  • Stomach Neoplasms* / pathology

Substances

  • Gastrins