[Clinical study of 22 cases of primary gastrointestinal lymphoma]

Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma (PGIL) is extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that originates from extra-nodal tissue of gastrointestinal (GI) tract and has specific clinical and pathological features. This study was to report the clinical and pathological features as well as the treatment outcome of this disease.

The clinical data of 22 cases of PGIL admitted and treated from January 1994 to June 2000 in the First Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University were analyzed retrospectively. The diagnosis was confirmed histologically.

All the patients were followed up for more than 3 years; among them 13 patients were followed up to 5 years. The 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 45.5% (10/22) and 38.5% (5/13), respectively. The survival rates decreased with the progression of the clinical stage. Low-grade marginal zone derived mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALT) showed a better prognosis than other pathological types. Of the 16 patients who received treatment attained complete remission (CR), the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 62.5% (10/16) and 45.5% (5/11), respectively, whereas the 3-year and 5-year survival rates of the 6 non-controlled patients were 0 and 0. Among the twelve cases treated with surgery alone, the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 33.3% (4/12) and 10% (1/10), respectively. For those receiving surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy (5 cases received adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery, and 1 patient received abdominal irradiation after the surgery), the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 83.3% (5/6) and 66.7% (2/3), respectively.

The prognosis of PGIL is related to control of the primary disease.