Surgical resection combined with chemotherapy can help achieve better outcomes in patients with primary colonic lymphoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The colon is a rare location for gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We retrospectively analyzed the demographic data of patients with colonic lymphoma and the possible prognostic factors of the disease.

METHODS

We studied data obtained from 6,944 patients and performed a retrospective review of patients with primary colonic lymphoma (PCL) by using a pathology registry database. We employed well-established and accepted diagnostic criteria and clinical staging method.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine patients (19 men; 10 women) were diagnosed with PCL. The cecum was the most common tumor location (14/29 patients), and 17 cases (17/29) showed diffuse large-B-cell lymphomas. Four patients died of sepsis within 30 days of an emergency surgery for perforation of intestine. Two-thirds of the patients were in the early disease stages (stages I and II). The overall 5-year survival rate was 47.3%. Disease stage was not a prognostic factor for survival. The overall 5-year survival rate in patients treated with surgery followed by chemotherapy was statistically significant as compared to that in the patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

CONCLUSION

PCL is a rare malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract, and surgical resection should be considered a part of the standard treatment to achieve a better outcome.