Nongastrointestinal low-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: Analysis of 75 patients

Purpose: Nongastrointestinal locations represent about 30% to 40% of all lo w-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. We report a ret rospective analysis of 75 patients with nongastrointestinal low-grade MALT lymphoma, presenting their clinical, therapeutic, and follow-up data with r espect to the initial location of the lymphoma. Patients end Methods: From January 1988 to October 1997, 75 patients with u ntreated nongastrointestinal low-grade MALT lymphoma were subjected to trea tments ranging from local radiotherapy and local interferon alfa administra tion to chemotherapy. The lymphomas were located in the lung (19 patients), orbital soft tissue (16 patients), skin (seven patients), thyroid (seven p atients), lachrymal gland (six patients), conjunctiva (six patients), saliv ary gland (six patients), breast (three patients), eyelid (two patients), l arynx (one patient), bone marrow (one patient), and trachea (one patient), Results: Complete and partial remissions were achieved in 59 (79%) and 16 ( 21%) of the 75 patients, respectively, with an overall response rare of 100 %. All but two of the patients are still alive, with a median follow-up of 47 months; these two patients died from other causes, The estimated time to treatment failure rate is 30% at 5 years. In the thyroid and lachrymal gla nd sites, no relapses were reported. Conclusion: Our data regarding the largest reported series of nongastrointe stinal MALT lymphomas confirm the good prognosis of this particular clinico pathologic entity and the significant efficacy of different therapeutic app roaches to specific sites. (C) 1999 by American Society of Clinical Oncolog y.