Chronic infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is linked to stomach cancer. The bacterium secretes toxins which cause inflammation in the stomach lining. High salt diets, such as those in Japan and China, enhance the ability of H. pylori to successfully infect the stomach lining. In the initiator-promoter model of tumorigenesis...
a. Both the high salt diet and the H. pylori infection are initiators.
b. The high salt diet is the initiator, and the H. pylori infection is the promoter.
c. The high salt diet is the promoter, and the H. pylori infection is the initiator.
d. Both the high salt diet and the H. pylori infection are promoters.