Hello,
I had pernicious anemia about two years ago and it was corrected with injections. Intrinsic factor test was negative. However, with the time I needed injections again. I read in the internet that pernicious anemia is caused by autoimmune gastritis and that this gastritis may lead to cancer. I do not have any GI symptoms. Is there any chance I can avoid cancer?
Firstly you need to treat your symptoms.
If you need regukar injections you must have them.
PA is not cured but 'managed
A IFA test that is negative fies not rule out PA.
If yiu eat plenty of b12 rich foods it must be an abdorbtion problem.
It is unusual to have no trestnrnt once started .
What symptoms or blood tests have yih had?
If you look through old posts fbirder he explains about possible slow growing cancer that t can occur.
How its monitored
Use the search tool.
With GI symptoms
An endoscopy is done if needed.
Do not alarm yourself.
Read some more.
Thank you! I do not have any GI symptoms. And I did not stop treating anemia what means that I get injections. My question was whether I should think all the time about cancer if I do not experience GI symptoms.
If yih dont experiencd GI symptoms you are unlkjeky to be referred to gastroenterology
I dont think you shoukd think about cancer all of the time if investigations of any gastric symptoms are not needed any more thsn any other cancer.
Only my opinion.
Lije i say look through some old posts .There must've been reasons /tests .
I imagine a reason for the endoscopy.
I have not heard of routine tests without symptoms .
I might be wrong
Some clarifications - PA is an auto-immune gastritis which causes B12 deficiency. One of the consequences of B12 deficiency is a type of anaemia in which red blood cells are rounder and larger than normal, but this is only one symptom and not necessarily one of the first to develop. It is also caused by folate deficiency.Whilst the anaemia can be corrected PA can't.
You may want to ask for a referral to a gastric specialist. Another result of PA is low stomach acidity/lack of stomach acidity which, of itself will cause gastric symptoms and it is most likely to be these that you are experiencing.
Whilst PA is associated with slightly higher rates of gastric cancer the %-ages are still very small. PA can lead to NETS (pre-cancerous cells) in the gut but these don't always go on to become cancer and are treatable and may be worth monitoring in patients who have PA.
Unfortunately negative IF doesn't actually rule out PA as the test is very likely to give a false negative.
atrophic gastritis is only one of the causes of PA. if you don't have any GI symptoms, it is unlikely that is the cause of your B12 deficiency. i wouldnt worry about it but if you want to confirm you would need an endoscopy. i am in the same situation as you and I still havent determined the cause of my B12 deficiency. I've had an endoscopy and colonoscopy done and they came back negative. i was also negative for the other tests for PA. I think some people just have a hard time processing, storing, and using B12 and need injections. but don't worry about cancer unless you have a family history in which case i would suggest genetic testing.
Thank you! That is very helpful.
Keep your gut in good health , encouraging growth of good bacteria by eating probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, real yoghurt and kefir , or falling that a good probiotic capsule/tablet .
Cancer/pernicious anemia?
What is the procedure to start B12 and to measure b12?
Negative intrinsic factor, what does this mean? 
super high gastrin level
