BACKGROUND: we analyzed the results from 25 patients with primary gastric lymphoma operated with curative intention. METHODS: Data were obtained retrospective ly and by contacting patients or theirs relatives. The disease was staged using the Ann Arbor system for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, as modified by Musshoff and Schmidt-Vollmer, and classified according to Kiel's system. RESULTS: The signs and symptoms were similar to those of peptic ulcer disease or gastric carcinoma. Preoperative diagnosis was obtained by endoscopic biopsy in three cases and by surgical exploration in the remaining. Seven patients (28%) were submitted to myelograms, which were normal in all cases. All patients were submitted to resection (12 subtotal gastrectomies and 13 total gastrectomies) with removal of regional lymph nodes. Ten of them (40%) received complementary treatment (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy). The staging was significantly more advanced in fundocardiac lesions and in more elderly patients, and the average survival was 31.5 months. CONCLUSIONS: in this series, the variables that influenced significantly survival rate were age, advanced stage, size of the lesion higher than 6,0 cm, and adjuvant postoperative treatment (p< 0,05). These results suggest that complete resection of the lesion with the adjacent lymph nodes, accompanied by adjuvant treatment, constitutes the best approach to resectable primary gastric lymphoma.
Lymphoma; Lymphoma non-Hodgkin; Stomach neoplasms
