[Radiotherapy of primary, locally circumscribed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the stomach (author's transl)].

Different methods of treatment were compared in 24 patients with primary, locally circumscribed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the stomach. Prognosis was significantly better (P less than 0.01) for patients who had received radiotherapy as part of their primary treatment, than those who had received only surgical treatment. Two of ten patients whose tumour had been resected and who had received postoperative radiotherapy had a recurrence after 5 and 14 years, respectively, and four patients who had received radiotherapy alone for a non-resectable tumour are free of recurrence. On the other hand, a recurrence occurred in six of ten patients treated by surgery alone. The results indicate that radiotherapy is the most important method in the primary treatment of locally circumscribed gastric lymphoma.