Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with primary localization in large bowel and rectum

From 1989, at the Department of Medical Oncology of the Institute for Oncology and Radiology in Belgrade, seven patients with primary NHL of large bowel and rectum have been observed and treated, 3 males and 4 females. In 3 patients an urgent laparotomy without previous diagnostic procedures was performed, while 4 patients had laparotomy only after radiographic and endoscopic diagnosis of a tumor. Six patients had radical surgery and 1 palliative only. Five patients had lymphoma localized in cecoascedental part of colon (2 centroblastic, 1 lymphoplasmocytic, 1 Burkitt and 1 Burkitt's like), 1 patient had it in the transversal part of colon (centroblastic), and one in the rectum (diffuse centrocytic). By further investigation, in 2 cases with localization within transversal part of colon and rectum no other sites of NHL were found. They are under regular controls with 45+ and 45+ months disease free survival. Out of 5 patients with localization within cecum or ascendent part of colon, in 2 cases with Burkitt/Burkitt-like histology retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy were found, one female had NHL central propagation, and the other one lymphoma generalization. Both patients had early death from lymphoma. The remaining three patients following chemotherapy with the ProMACE regimen (as they too had a post laparotomy stage II disease) achieved a complete response lasting for 36+, 41+ and 66+ months. Since the median survival in our group of patients is at the moment 41+ months and the median has not yet been reached, our experience does not confirm literature data claiming bad prognosis of primary NHL of the colon and rectum. A long disease free survival can be obtained in these patients either with surgery only or surgery + chemotherapy, depending on disease stage and possibly initial topographic localization.