'Stomach cancer thus might be a secondary consequence of the microbe’s aggressive search for nutrients. For the H. pylori, “there’s no selective pressure to cause cancer in 80 years. The selective pressure is to acquire iron now,” Karen Guillemin, a microbiologist at the University of Oregon, said'

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/10/h-pylori-bacteria-mutation-stomach-cancer/675689/