title: Primary pediatric gastrointestinal lymphoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common extranodal lymphoma in pediatric age group. Yet, the overall incidence is very low. The rarity of the disease as well as variable clinical presentation prevents early detection when the possibility of cure exists.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied six cases of primary GI NHL in pediatric age group with reference to their clinical presentation, anatomic distribution and histopathologic characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All were males except one. Intestinal obstruction was the presenting feature in 50%. Half the cases showed ileocaecal involvement, while large bowel was involved in 16%. Histology showed four cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), one case of Burkitt lymphoma, and one Burkitt-like lymphoma. Immunohistochemistry for Tdt, CD20, CD3, CD30, bcl2, bcl6 confirmed the morphological diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatric GI lymphoma commonly involves the ileocaecal region and presents with intestinal obstruction. A higher prevalence of DLBCL is found compared to other series. A high proliferative index is useful in differentiating Burkitt-like lymphoma from DLBCL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Burdwan Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Ranjana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.forename: Swapan Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Uttara
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Dipanwita
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nag
authors.forename: Subhalakshmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.forename: Supriyo Roy
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: Pranab K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Biswas