Curative resection plus adjuvant chemotherapy for early stage primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a retrospective study with emphasis on prognostic factors and treatment outcome.
BACKGROUND
There is controversy regarding the optimal therapy for primary non-Hodgkin gastric lymphoma with some authors defending surgical extirpation either alone or in association with radiotherapy and or chemotherapy, especially in relation to the earlier stages of the disease.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical-pathological features and the results of management approaches for patients with primary early-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the stomach operated in Surgical Gastroenterology Department, "Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual", São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The literature is reviewed to highlight the aspects of diagnosis, prognostic factors and role of the various treatment regimens.


METHODS
Sixteen patients with primary early-stage gastric lymphoma underwent curative surgical treatment. The variables analyzed were age, sex, location, size, type of surgery, number of lesions, depth of invasion, histological type in accordance with Kiel's classification, involvement of lymph nodes, Ann Arbor stage classification modified by Musshoff and Schmidt-Vollmer, histological grade, margins, adjuvant therapy, clinical course and survival.


RESULTS
Ten patients (62.5%) underwent subtotal gastrectomy and six (37.5%) underwent total gastrectomy. The majority (9/56.2%) of the lesions were located in the antrum. Single lesions (10/62.5%) were more frequent than multiple lesions (6/37.5%). Thirteen patients (81.2%) were classified as stage IE and three (18.7%) as stage IIE1. Primary gastric lymphoma classified histologically as low or high grade was presented by 10 (62.5%) and 6 (37.5%) patients, respectively. The most frequent histological types were the lymphoplasmocytic cytoid (4/25.0%) and centroblastic (4/25.0%). Ten patients (62.5%) received adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy). Nine patients (56.2%), all in stage IE, reached a survival greater than 5 years and of these eight (50.0.%) had received adjuvant therapy. Two (12.5%) patients with stage IIE1 presented peritoneal relapse and died 3.0 years and 3.5 years after their respective operations. The mean overall survival was 42.5 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the patients with primary early-stage gastric lymphoma (IE and IIE1), the gastric resection enabled an accurate clinicopathological staging, in addition to obtaining sufficient material for histopathological study and extirpation of the lesion. Furthermore, for patients with stage IE disease, the gastric resection combined with adjuvant therapy was associated with a greater than 5-year survival. Until prospective randomized studies are realized in order to evaluate the real efficacy of the different types of treatment for primary early-stage gastric lymphoma, management approaches should be individually tailored.
Waisberg
Jaques
J
Surgical Gastroenterology Department, Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. jaqueswaisberg@uol.com.br
André
Eduardo Antonio
EA
Franco
Maria Isete Fares
MI
Abucham-Neto
Júlio Zaki
JZ
Wickbold
Daniela
D
Goffi
Fábio Schmidt
FS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome