Primary gastrointestinal follicular lymphoma: single-center 12-year experiences.
OBJECTIVE
Primary gastrointestinal follicular lymphoma (GI-FL) is very rare and its natural course is barley known. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of primary gastrointestinal follicular lymphoma (GI-FL).


METHODS
From May 1996 to October 2008, the records of five patients diagnosed with primary GI-FL were retrieved from pathological files and retrospectively analyzed in terms of characteristics of endoscopic and clinical findings.


RESULTS
The five patients consisted of 3 males and 2 females with a median age of 52 years. Abdominal pain was the most common (n=4, 80%) symptom. The most frequent site was the terminal ileum in the small bowel (n=3, 60%). Endoscopic findings were 3 of mass forming type, 1 of irregular ulcer type and 1 of whitish granular type. Three cases (60%) had a component of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. All cases received chemotherapy. While complete remission occurred in every patient, relapse occurred in the two patients with a higher grade and more advanced stage than the other cases. At a median follow-up time of 37 months (range, 27-58 months; mean, 38.8 months), four patients (80%) were disease free and one patient had died of cardiovascular disease.


CONCLUSIONS
In South Korea, primary gastrointestinal follicular lymphoma is very rare and symptomatic. Endoscopic findings were variable from early whitish granular lesions to advanced mass forming lesions.
Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Youn Ju
YJ
Na
Eun Ran
ER
Kim
Seok Jin
SJ
Kim
Won Seog
WS
Kim
Young-Hyeh
YH
Ko
Hee Jung
HJ
Son
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018193:Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents