Repeating gastric biopsy for accuracy of gastric lymphoma diagnosis

Gastric lymphoma is characterized by a good prognosis with slow progression and a nonspecific appearance under the endoscope. A biopsy is performed for accurate diagnosis. For this study, endoscopy and biopsy specimens were analyzed retrospectively to investigate the rate of accurate diagnosis of gastric lymphoma in first-, second-, and third-round endoscopic and biopsy procedures and to understand the causes of discrepancies. Fifty-four cases of gastric lymphoma were diagnosed in 32,000 patients. The rate of positive Helicobacter pylori infection was 70.4%. Of these, 13 cases were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and 41 cases were marginal zone B-cell lymphoma. Thirty-two gastric lymphoma cases (59.3%) were diagnosed by first-round endoscopy and biopsy, 13 (24.1%) cases required second-round endoscopy and biopsy, and 9 (16.7%) cases were determined in the third round of endoscopic and biopsy procedures. Repeating endoscopy and biopsy reduced discrepancies in the diagnosis of gastric lymphoma by 40.8%, which can significantly improve the overall accuracy of diagnosis and treatment of gastric lymphoma.