Clinicopathologic study of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma in gastroscopic biopsy

AIM: To explore and discuss the clinicopathologic characteristics of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in gastroscopic biopsy specimen. METHODS: A retrospective study of 26 cases of lymphoma diagnosed by gastroscopic biopsy during 1999 to 2001 from gastroscopy files of Xijing Hospital was made. The diagnostic criteria were adopted according to the new classification of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. RESULTS: Twenty-six cases of primary gastric lymphoma consisting of 15 men and 11 women, aged between 23 to 76 years were recruited from 6 225 cases who received gastroscopy. All of them were diagnosed by both endoscopic findings and histological examinations. Histologically, 23 cases were MALToma (low grade) and 3 cases lymphoblastic lymphoma (high grade). Immunohistochemically, all cases were CD20 positive, while CK and EMA were negative. CONCLUSION: The majority of the cases of primary low-grade gastric lymphoma have morphologic and clinical features that justify their inclusion in the category of low-grade lymphoma of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue.