Diagnosis and Treatment for Gastric Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (MALT) Lymphoma

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, which was first reported in 1984, shows an indolent clinical course. However, the detailed clinicopathological characteristics of gastric MALT lymphoma have not been fully elucidated. We performed a literature search concerning the clinical features and treatment for gastric MALT lymphoma using PubMED. MALT lymphomas develop in single or multiple extranodal organs, of which the stomach is one of the most frequent sites; gastric MALT lymphoma accounts for 7% to 9% of all B-cell lymphomas, and 40% to 50% of primary gastric lymphomas. The eradication of ( ) is the first-line treatment for patients with gastric MALT lymphoma, regardless of the clinical stage. Approximately 60-90% of cases with stage I/II disease only achieve a complete histological response via eradication. In patients who do not respond to eradication therapy, second-line treatments such as watch-and-wait, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, rituximab immunotherapy, and/or a combination of these are recommended. Thus, plays a causative role in the pathogenesis of gastric MALT lymphoma, and eradication leads to complete histological remission in the majority of cases.