Gastric lymphomas. Clinical features, treatment and prognosis

Abdominal Lymphoma - the Place for Surgery

Gastrointestinal lymphoma (GIL) is rare but may be cured by surgery and chemotherapy. Because symptoms frequently mimic common abdominal conditions, presentation is often to a surgeon. Fiftyfive patients with GIL were treated between 1975 and 1984: all underwent operations before the correct diagnosis was made, 22 (40%) as emergencies. Misdiagnosis in 23 (42%) led to a delay in correct treatment of ≥ 6 months from the start of symptoms: in 17 (31%) the delay was ≥ one year. Endoscopy and radiology were inaccurate and suggested peptic ulceration, Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome. The site of disease was usually stomach and duodenum (26, 47%) or ileum and jejunum (29, 53%). The extent of surgical resection was associated with survival at ≥3 years - in 16 (29%) who underwent ‘complete resection’ 14 survived, but only one of 28 survived when the operation was limited to diagnostic biopsy (P < 0.0001). Most deaths occurred within one year of operation, commonlyfrom perforation or haematemesis from residual mural disease during chemotherapy. In 5 of 11 patients who had biopsy only, CT scans suggested localized disease, and ‘complete resection’ was achieved at a second laparotomy. Complete resection should be attempted wherever possible before chemotherapy. The place for surgeons with experience is clearly central to the management of this disease.

Low-grade MALT lymphoma of the stomach: a review of treatment options

PURPOSE

Low-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the stomach (MLS) is often associated with the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria. Eradication of the infection with antibiotic therapy may result in regression of the lymphoma. But when antibiotic treatment fails to reverse the malignant process or if H. pylori is absent, other treatment options should be considered. Because MLS is often confined to the stomach and regional lymph nodes, it is potentially curable with local therapy. Endoscopy and improved imaging, with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and computerized tomography (CT), have reduced the prior dependence on surgery for diagnosis and staging of gastric lymphomas.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This review details the advances in the diagnosis, classification, and imaging of MLS. We also describe the experience that supports the use of radiation therapy as the preferred treatment of MLS in patients who have not responded to antibiotic therapy or have not had evidence for H. pylori infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Radiation therapy for MLS is not only effective and safe, but offers the significant advantage of low morbidity and gastric function preservation.

Effects of DNA ploidy patterns on the survival of patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma

To assess the prognostic value of DNA ploidy patterns, the DNA ploidy patterns of 37 primary gastrointestinal lymphomas were determined by DNA flow cytometry, using paraffin-embedded archival specimens. The DNA ploidy patterns were diploid in 21 tumors and nondiploid in 16 tumors. Advanced clinical stage, as determined by the Ann Arbor Staging Classification, and nondiploid DNA ploidy patterns were associated with significantly reduced survival of the patients, whereas tumor size, tumor grade, and the S-phase fraction of tumor cells were not correlated with survival. A multivariate analysis disclosed that the variables which had significant prognostic value for primary gastrointestinal lymphoma were the clinical stage of the disease and the DNA ploidy patterns of the tumor cells.

A retrospective analysis of treatment outcome in 106 cases of localized gastric non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Danish Lymphoma Study Group, LYFO

197 cases of gastric lymphoma were reported to a population-based Danish registry of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. 106 of these cases were localized, representing stages IE and II1E, and were analyzed retrospectively, using Cox regression analysis. 67 had surgical resection, 51 chemotherapy, and 55 radiotherapy, or combinations thereof. No type of treatment showed any superiority as regards survival (p = 0.13). Overall 5-year survival was 67%. The pretherapeutic presence of fever or S-LDH-elevation had a far more significant influence on survival than histology or any of the treatments or treatment combinations. Surgical resection was associated with a significantly higher risk of late complications than radiotherapy, suggesting that radiotherapy may be preferable to surgery as the primary treatment in localized gastric lymphoma. It could not be determined from the available data whether the addition of chemotherapy to the primary treatment provides any survival benefit.

Role of surgery in patients with primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the stomach: an old problem revisited

The literature after 1980 dealing with the treatment of primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (stages I and II) is reviewed. Gastrectomy is recommended for patients with acute symptoms at presentation or with complications of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In elective cases, patients with stage I disease may be candidates for gastrectomy as a single therapy, provided that tumour-free resection margins are achieved. There is no evidence of substantial benefit from adding postoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy after an apparently radical resection. In stage II disease, the best results are achieved with ablative surgery plus adjuvant therapy. The resection volume should be limited to macroscopically involved structures, in principle avoiding total gastrectomy and extensive lymph node dissection, since residual disease may be optimally controlled with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Primary chemotherapy, with or without radiotherapy, represents an experimental approach; the advantages of sparing the stomach must be balanced against the toxicity of an aggressive chemotherapy regimen and the risk of emergency operation for iatrogenic complications.

Primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A retrospective clinico-pathological study

Prognostic factors and treatment results were analysed in 72 consecutive patients with primary gastric lymphoma treated between 1970 and 1985. There were 37 patients in stage IE, 17 in IIE, 3 in IIES and 15 in stage IV. Histopathological re-evaluation and classification according to the TNM system were performed. We found that disseminated disease (stage IV), serosal penetration (T3), involvement of adjacent organs (T4) and extensive abdominal lymph node involvement (N3) were poor prognostic factors. Neither histological malignancy grading, nor the appearance of lympho-epithelial lesions were significantly associated with relapse-free survival. Forty-six patients with 'limited localized' disease (stage IE, IIE, N3 excluded) received potentially curative treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or combinations thereof), of whom 85% remained relapse-free. Thirty-four patients did only get local treatment (surgery and/or radiotherapy) with curative potential, the relapse-free survival rate was 85%. We conclude that primary gastric lymphoma stage IE and IIE (N3 excluded) is often a truly localized disease that can be cured with local therapy.

Immunophenotyping in the management of gastric lymphoma

Primary gastric lymphoma is a rare tumor in which surgical resection plays a major role in improving the response rate and reducing the incidence of bleeding and perforation after chemotherapy. In 17 consecutive patients, the diagnosis of gastric lymphoma was made by immunophenotyping snap-frozen endoscopic biopsy specimens. All neoplasms were B-cell lymphomas. Pan B surface marker antigens were present in all patients. Levels of Ki-67, a nuclear marker of tumor proliferation, were greater than 45% in two of the four patients who died after progression of their lymphoma. All patients alive had Ki-67 levels of less than 30%. A lower proliferation index, as measured by Ki-67, appears to be associated with better prognosis. Ten of 11 patients treated by resection prior to chemotherapy had no complications. Immunophenotyping is the key in the differential diagnosis when considering malignant lymphoma with gastric carcinoma and benign conditions such as pseudolymphoma.

Primary gastric lymphoma: a prospective analysis of 12 cases and review of the literature

The clinicopathological features of 12 cases of primary lymphoma of the stomach are reviewed, and the efficacy of various treatment modalities is evaluated. The presenting symptomatology and the radiological signs were found to be similar to those of gastric carcinoma. Gastroscopy and computed tomography (CT) proved to be effective diagnostic and staging tools. There were two patients of stage I, seven patients of stage II, and three patients of stage IV. Multimodal therapy involving judiciously combined surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy produced early complete remission in all the nine patients with localized disease, and all of them are disease-free at a minimum follow-up period of 12 months. These results are irrespective of whether surgery formed part of the treatment regimen. The relevant literature is reviewed, and the present status of the efficacy of nonsurgical therapy is evaluated.

The role of gallium 67 imaging in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of gallium 67 imaging in the detection of gastrointestinal (GI) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and in the assessment of the therapeutic effects, images were reviewed in 24 cases (25 lesions: stomach, 20; ileum, 2; and terminal ileum and or cecum, 3) and were compared using barium studies and, in 16 cases, computerized tomography (CT). In all, 23 (92.0%) of the 25 lesions were detected by 67Ga citrate imaging, the barium studies detected all 25, and CT detected 15 of 16 lesions (93.8%). The two lesions not identified by imaging and the one not found by CT were the smallest of all. In 2 (8.7%) of the 23 lesions positively identified by 67Ga-citrate imaging, both CT and imaging revealed the extent of the tumor more accurately than did the barium studies. In all but one of the patients, a close correlation existed between the imaging results and the therapeutic effects. These data suggest that 67Ga imaging is useful in conjunction with CT and barium studies for the detection of GI NHL and for the assessment of both the spatial extent of disease and the therapeutic effects, although a lack of 67Ga uptake after therapy does not always indicate a good therapeutic effect.

Primary gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a population-based registry

In a population-based registry of 580 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) 54 patients had a primary gastric lymphoma, 42 an intestinal, 113 a primary extranodal lymphoma localised elsewhere than in the gastrointestinal tract and 371 a primary nodal NHL. Histological specimens were reviewed by a panel of pathologists and classified according to the Kiel classification and the International Working Formulation. The 4-year survival rates for primary gastric, intestinal, other extranodal and nodal NHL ranged from 50 to 60%; the 4-year recurrence-free survival rates were 50%, 35%, 19% and 19%, respectively. Among patients with localised intermediate-grade disease survival for those with gastric NHL was better than for those with intestinal lymphoma. Because it is population-based, our study cohort was not subjected to exclusion due to age, performance scale, etc. and therefore provides a more realistic picture of the occurrence and presentation of as well as prognosis for lymphoma in the population.

Nuclear DNA content and its prognostic value in lymphoma of the stomach

Nuclear DNA content of 27 primary lymphomas of the stomach was determined by flow cytometry from paraffin-embedded tissue. Thirteen (50%) of the 26 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas were aneuploid. The only case with Hodgkin's disease was diploid. The mean age of patients with aneuploid lymphoma was less than that of patients with diploid lymphoma (53 years versus 63 years, P = 0.02). DNA aneuploidy was more common in tumors with extragastric spread into the adjacent organs or the upper abdominal lymph nodes than in intragastric lymphomas (73% versus 17%; P = 0.003). Patients with aneuploid lymphoma had both inferior crude recurrence-free survival rate (P = 0.05) and survival rate corrected for known intercurrent diseases (P = 0.02) than patients with diploid lymphoma. Extragastric spread of lymphoma into the adjacent organs or the upper abdominal lymph nodes was, however, the most important prognostic factor by a multivariate analysis.