Do general practitioners inform patients of the association between Helicobactor pylori infection and gastric cancer prior to determining serostatus?

The availability of non-invasive tests for the detection of Helicobactor pylori infection in primary care is increasing. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently labelled H. pylori as a Class 1 carcinogen. We describe how frequently general practitioners (GPs) inform patients of this association prior to offering an H. pylori serology test, and discuss the possible consequences of withholding this information.