Abstract
Objective: For upper digestive tract examination on general health screening and/or ningen dock, endoscopy has increasingly replaced radiography. Upper digestive tract endoscopy is useful for detecting malignant disorders of the upper digestive tract, especially cancer, in the early stage. In this study, we report patients in whom biopsy under a tentative diagnosis of gastric cancer or duodenal polyp suggested mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue(MALT)lymphoma. As this disorder must be differentiated from cancer, we accumulated and analyzed patients with MALT lymphomas in the upper digestive tract. Methods: Among a total of 28,122 subjects who underwent upper digestive tract endoscopy on ningen dock in our hospital between January 2001 and December 2006, we clinically examined 13 patients in whom upper digestive tract biopsy was performed, and histopathological examination diagnosed MALT lymphoma. Results: Ages ranged from 41 to 77 years, with a mean of 56.8 years. The male-to-female ratio was 9: 4. The detection rate was 0.046%. Symptoms, including ardor ventriculi, epigastric pain, and abdominal pain, were noted in 1 patient. In all patients, the LDH levels were within the normal range. The performance status(PS)was 0 in all patients. The clinical stage was evaluated as I in 11patients in whom investigation was possible. The subjects were divided into gastric and duodenal lesion groups. In the former group, there was no relapse after eradication therapy. Conclusion: To detect MALT lymphomas of the upper digestive tract, regular screening should be performed in Halicobactor pylori-positive patients. Most gastric lesions show slight changes; close follow-up andbiopsy are important. Duodenal lesions must be differentiated from follicular lymphomas.
