OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors in Chinese patients with primary intestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (PINHL).

METHODSThe clinical symptoms, pathological features, diagnostic and prognostic factors of 273 cases diagnosed with PINHL from our center were analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 273 cases, 189 were male and 84 female, the male to female ratio was 2.3:1. The age of patients ranged from 2 to 85 years old with the median age of 46. The most frequent site of the lesions was ileocecus (n=83, 30.4%). The clinical symptoms of PINHL were unspecific with abdominal mass frequently seen in B-cell lymphoma, and perforation, hypogastric pain and "B" symptoms more common in T-cell lymphoma. Endoscopic biopsy diagnosis rate was 90.3%. Of 273 cases, B-cell lymphoma (n=232, 85.0%) dominated PINHL with the most common subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-not otherwise specified (DLBCL-NOS) (n=132, 48.4%), while the T-cell lymphoma (n=41, 15.0%) were much less seen with the most common subtype of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) (n=15, 36.6%). There were 245 cases were followed up, including 206 cases of B-cell lymphoma and 39 cases of T-cell lymphoma, it was found that the prognosis of B-cell lymphoma is much better than that of T-cell lymphoma (P<0.05). Operation had no significant effect for the overall survival rate. But for patients with aggressive lymphoma, operation can improve the survival rate.

CONCLUSIONIt indicates that PINHL often occurs as B cell type, DLBCL-NOS is the most common histological type. Ileocecus is the most common site involved and enteroscope biopsy is a good method of diagnosis. Compared with T-cell lymphoma, B-cell lymphoma has different clinical manifestations and a better prognosis. Patients with aggressive lymphoma can benefit from operation.