A Case Report of Gastric MALT Lymphoma

Shun-ichi Watanabe, Nozomu Murakami, Yoshio Tsunezuka, Akiyuki Kato, Makoto Hirano, Hirokatsu Kikkawa, Shinji Masuda*

Department of Surgery and *Clinical Pathology, Kouseiren Takaoka Hospital

A 51-year-old man complained of a gastric ulcer, and was admitted to our hospital. The patient had suffered from the gastric ulcer more than one year in spite of medication. Biopsy of the lesion was performed repeatedly but malignant cells were never found. At this time, biopsy following discovery of the gastric lesion revealed a lymphoma, and subtotal gastrectomy was performed. The tumor was abut 1 cm in diameter with a tumor depth of sm. Subsequent pathological findings revealed a mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Lymphomas of the gastrointestinal tract, salivary glands, lung and thyroid are grouped together as tumors arising in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, and are called MALT lymphoma. The great majority of MALT lymphomas are of B cell origin, and their prognosis is considerably better than that of nodal tumors. The diagnosis of MALT lymphoma is sometimes difficult, so it is necessary for clinicians and pathologists to have adequate knowledge well about MALT lymphoma.

Key words
mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, B-cell lymphoma

Reprint requests
Shun-ichi Watanabe First Department of Surgery, Kanazawa University School of Medicine
13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920 JAPAN

Accepted
September 8, 1993

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