Primary colorectal lymphoma in Taiwan

Sixteen patients with primary lymphoma of the colon and rectum were studied.

The median age of these patients was 34 years, and 13 were men. These patients often experienced abdominal pain, diarrhea, a palpable abdominal mass, weight loss, bloody stools, and tumor of the cecum. Intermediate or high-grade lymphomas occurred in 14 patients, and 5 patients had T-cell lesions. The diagnoses were established by using laparotomy in 14 patients and colonoscopic biopsy in 2 patients. Fourteen patients had surgical resections followed by chemotherapy: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone in 10; cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone (COP) in 2; and cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate, and prednisolone in 1 patient. Two patients underwent biopsy alone followed by chemotherapy with COP in one and chemotherapy with prednisolone in the other.

The median follow-up time was 38 months (range, 2-82 months). Eight patients are alive with no evidence of disease (range, 10-82+ months). Six patients died of disease from 2 to 44 months after diagnosis. One patient who had no evidence of lymphoma died of esophageal carcinoma at 61 months. The median survival time was 59 months.

The authors' experience with colorectal lymphoma in Taiwan is different from that reported from Japan and other countries. The patients of this study were significantly younger and many had T-cell lesions. Despite the frequently poor histologic types, surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy can result in long-term, disease-free survival in many patients with primary colorectal lymphoma.