Sjogren's syndrome disclosed by salivary gland MALT lymphoma. Three case reports

Sjogren's syndrome is characterized by an increased risk of developing non- Hodgkin's lymphoma. The lymphoma is most frequently extra-nodal, preferenti ally affecting the salivary gland: low-grade MALT lymphoma. Conversly, unde rlying Sjogren's syndrome has been recently identified by some authors in p atients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the present report, we present three cases of Sjogren's syndrome disclos ed by low-grade salivary gland MALT lymphoma. The patients were all women a ged 33, 38 and 52 years, Extension work-up revealed nodal and bone marrow i nvolvement in one case and no evidence of disseminated disease in the two o thers. Using the European criteria, all of our patients had certain Sjogren 's syndrome. Labial salivary gland biopsy and immunopathological studies in newly diagno sed low-grade MALT lymphoma would be helpful in identifying the real freque ncy of this association.