OBJECTIVETo further understand the clinical features of non-gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and investigate its suitable treatment.

METHODSA retrospective survey of 57 non-gastric MATL lymphoma patients pathologically confirmed in our hospital from 1999 to 2011.

RESULTSThe median age was 58 years (range 14-86 years). Common presenting sites of non-gastric MALT lymphoma included lungs and upper respiratory tract (17 patients, 29.8%), intestinal tracts (16 patients,28.1%), orbital and ocular adnexal (7 patients, 12.3%), and salivary glands (8 patients, 14.0%). Stage Ⅰ-Ⅱdisease presented in 35 patients (61.4%), stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ disease in 22 patients (38.6%). A total of 26 patients had nodal involvement and 7 patients multiple organ involvement. Regimens included surgery alone, chemotherapy alone, surgery followed by chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The complete response (CR) rate was 66.0% and the overall response rate 85.7%. At a median follow-up of 52 months, the 5-year overall survival (OS) and the 5-year progression free survival (PFS) were 91.6% and 77.7%, respectively. The 5-year survival rate of surgery, chemotherapy, surgery+chemotherapy, surgery + chemotherapy + radiotherapy groups were 87.5%, 100.0%, 90.2% and 100.0%, respectively, without significant differences. The 5-year PFS of the four groups were 62.3%, 80.0%, 90.2% and 75.0% respectively.

CONCLUSIONNon-gastric MALT lymphoma is characterized by disseminated onset, favorable response to treatments and good outcomes. There is no statistically significant difference in the overall survival of the various treatments. But the recurrence rate of surgery alone is relatively high (22.3%).