We determined the effect of coincubation of normal rat gastric fibroblasts with alive H. pylori (cagA+vacA+) and H. pylori (cagA−vacA−) strains on the differentiation of these fibroblasts into cells possessing characteristics of cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) able to induce epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) of normal rat gastric epithelial cells (RGM‐1). Here, S100A8 is linked to cancer.