Metachronous association between gastric lymphoma and early gastric cancer is a rare event. Recent studies have suggested that a relationship exists between gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and gastric carcinoma although the mechanism is unknown. Herein, we report a 53-year-old man who visited to our hospital due to melena. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) revealed a MALT lymphoma on the greater curvature of lower body. The patient received anti-Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, followed by 6 cycles of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and achieved complete remission 12 months after the therapy. Three years later, he revisited our hospital with epigastric pain. EGD revealed an early gastric cancer on the anterior wall of proximal antrum, nearly opposite to the previous lymphoma site, and a partial gastrectomy was performed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of metachronous MALT lymphoma and subsequent gastric carcinoma in Korea.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Gastric Mucosa/*pathology ; Helicobacter Infections/drug therapy ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone/*diagnosis/pathology/radiotherapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/*diagnosis/etiology ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology

Gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is the most common form of primary extranodal lymphomas. In most cases, it is developed as multifocal and mucosal lesions, and its initial diagnosis is made by biopsy of suspicious lesions on endoscopy. However, when gastric MALT lymphoma afflict submucosal site without typical mucosal lesion, further procedures are necessary for diagnosis, such as endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic ultrasonography. We recently experienced two cases of submucosal tumor-like gastric MALT lymphoma. Both cases were without any mucosal lesion. One case was confirmed by endoscopic mucosal resection, and the latter was by wedge resection. Treatment modalities included endoscopic mucosal resection, surgery, H. pylori eradication, and/or chemotherapy. Both cases achieved complete remission until our 18 months' and 16 months' follow up.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Endosonography ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa/*pathology ; Gastroscopy ; Helicobacter Infections/drug therapy ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Neoplasms/diagnosis

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is widely accepted as a standard treatment for early gastric cancer or gastric adenoma. However, EMR inevitably results in the formation of large iatrogenic ulcer at the resected area. Although the characteristics of EMR-induced ulceration are not fully understood, this type of ulcer is thought to heal faster and to recur less often than non-iatrogenic gastric ulcer. Current available evidences have suggested that EMR-induced ulcers heal within 2-3 months. Herein, we report two cases of non-healing persistent gastric ulcers after EMR. One is a case of gastric carcinoma which developed at the same site of previous EMR site for the low grade dysplasia. The other is a case in which persistent EMR-induced ulcer was healed in the long run after Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy.
Aged ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Gastric Mucosa/pathology/*surgery ; Helicobacter Infections/complications/drug therapy ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Iatrogenic Disease ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Neoplasms/complications/diagnosis/*surgery ; Stomach Ulcer/diagnosis/*etiology/pathology

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to determine the biopsy sites that are suitable for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and to assess the sensitivity of culture, histology, and dual-priming oligonucleotide (DPO)-based multiplex PCR. Moreover, we evaluated the usefulness of PCR for the detection of 23S rRNA mutations, which are responsible for the clarithromycin resistance of H. pylori. METHODS: From 90 patients, we obtained biopsy specimens for culture, histology, and Seeplex(R) ClaR-H. pylori PCR (Seegene Inc., Korea). Phenotypic susceptibility to clarithromycin was evaluated using the E-test (AB Biodisk, Sweden). RESULTS: H. pylori was detected in 48 of 90 patients. The positive rates of infection in the antrum and body were higher than those in the biopsies obtained from the duodenal bulb. The positive rates in histology, PCR, and culture were 46.7%, 42.2%, and 34.4%, respectively. Using histology or PCR, we identified H. pylori in 46 of the 48 patients. 23S rRNA mutations were detected in 8 patients. The clarithromycin E-test showed that all the 10 wild-type patients were susceptible. However, the results of the PCR and E-test of 3 of the 8 mutation-positive patients were discrepant. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that a combination of histology and PCR affords a high detection rate of H.pylori infection and that DPO-based PCR can be practically used for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection and the determination of clarithromycin resistance. These techniques were useful for biopsy sampling simultaneously from the antrum and body for the detection of clarithromycin resistance of multiple strain infection or heteroresistance.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology ; Biopsy ; Clarithromycin/*pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Genotype ; Helicobacter Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology ; Helicobacter pylori/drug effects/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/genetics

BACKGROUND: Gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is associated with Helicobacter pylori infection and H. pylori eradication is used as its first-line therapy. However, controversies exist about the prognostic value of H. pylori infection in these patients. We evaluated the prognostic impact of H. pylori infection and eradication therapy in gastric MALT lymphoma. METHODS: A total of 292 patients diagnosed with MALT lymphoma since 2000 were analysed. MALT lymphoma was diagnosed with tissue biopsy and H. pylori infection was diagnosed with hematoxylin-eosin and additional Warthin-Starry stains on tissue sections. Clinical variables such as bone marrow (BM) involvement, multiorgan involvement, tumor stage at diagnosis, and remission were obtained with retrospective review of electronic medical records. RESULTS: Non-gastric MALT lymphoma patients showed higher multiorgan involvement rates (26.6% vs. 9.6%, P<0.001) and higher proportion of stage > or =3 (27.7% vs. 16.7%, P=0.029) than gastric cases. Regarding gastric MALT lymphoma, patients with H. pylori infection at diagnosis showed significantly less BM (2.1% vs. 21.8%, P<0.001) and multiorgan involvement rates (6.3% vs. 18.2%, P=0.011) than those without infection. But there was no significant difference in remission rates between them. In contrast, those with successful H. pylori eradication therapy showed significantly higher remission rates (81.0% vs. 30.8%, P<0.001) than those with failure. CONCLUSIONS: Non-gastric MALT lymphoma patients showed worse prognosis compared to gastric cases. As for remission rates in patients with gastric MALT lymphoma, successful H. pylori eradication therapy could be a good prognostic factor even if H. pylori infection was present at diagnosis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Cells/pathology ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa/pathology ; Helicobacter Infections/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; *Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology

Menetrier's disease is a rare entity characterized by large, tortuous gastric mucosal folds. The mucosal folds in Menetrier's disease are often most prominent in the body and fundus. Histologically, massive foveolar hyperplasia (hyperplasia of surface and glandular mucous cells) is noted, which replaces most of the chief and parietal cells. Profuse mucus is usually observed during the endoscopy but there have been few cases that show interesting endoscopic findings such as mucus bridge or water pearl. Herein, we report a case of Menetrier's disease showing mucus bridge by excessive mucus observed during the endoscopy.
2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles/therapeutic use ; Amoxicillin/therapeutic use ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Clarithromycin/therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Gastric Mucosa/*pathology/secretion ; Gastritis, Hypertrophic/*diagnosis/pathology ; Gastroscopy ; Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis/drug therapy ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucus/secretion ; Proton Pump Inhibitors/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUNDHelicobacter pylori (Hp) is a common and potentially curable cause of gastric mucosa lesion. This study investigated the relationship of Hp infection with histological changes in gastric mucosa and gastric cancer in Hp-positive patients compared with Hp-eradication patients followed up for ten years.

METHODSFrom an initial group of 1 006 adults, 552 Hp-positive subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment group (T; n = 276) or a placebo group (P; n = 276). In the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel trial, T group subjects received oral doses of omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin for 1 week; those in the P group received a placebo. One month after treatment ended, a 13C urea breath test was performed, and Hp was undetectable in 88.89% of the T group. All subjects were followed at 1, 5, 8, and 10 years after treatment, with endoscopy and biopsies for histological examination.

RESULTSGastric mucosa inflammation was significantly milder in the T group than that in the P group one year after Hp eradication and this persisted for 10 years. Glandular atrophy and intestinal metaplasia (IM) had deteriorated in both groups during ten years. However, the increased score of glandular atrophy at both the gastric antrum and corpus, and IM only at the gastric antrum, in the P group was more obvious than that in the T group. During the 10 years, 9 patients were diagnosed with gastric cancer (2 in the T group; 7 in the P group; P = 0.176). When mucosal atrophy was absent at the gastric antrum and corpus when entering the study, the incidence of gastric cancer in the P group (n = 6) was much higher than that in the T group (n = 0, P = 0.013).

CONCLUSIONSHp eradication may significantly diminish and help halt progression of gastric mucosal inflammation and delay the development of IM and atrophy gastritis. Hp eradication is helpful for reducing the risk for gastric cancer, especially in the early stage of Hp infection.

Adult ; Aged ; Amoxicillin ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Clarithromycin ; therapeutic use ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastric Mucosa ; drug effects ; pathology ; Gastritis, Atrophic ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Helicobacter Infections ; drug therapy ; Helicobacter pylori ; pathogenicity ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Omeprazole ; therapeutic use ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; prevention & control

It is often difficult to differentiate gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma from Helicobacter pylori-associated follicular gastritis, and thus, it becomes unclear how to manage these diseases. This study aimed to explore the management strategy for and the long-term outcomes of suspicious gastric MALT lymphoma detected by forceps biopsy during screening upper endoscopy. Between October 2003 and May 2013, consecutive subjects who were diagnosed with suspicious gastric MALT lymphomas by screening endoscopy in a health checkup program in Korea were retrospectively enrolled. Suspicious MALT lymphoma was defined as a Wotherspoon score of 3 or 4 upon pathological evaluation of the biopsy specimen. Of 105,164 subjects who underwent screening endoscopies, 49 patients with suspicious MALT lymphomas who underwent subsequent endoscopy were enrolled. Eight patients received a subsequent endoscopy without H. pylori eradication (subsequent endoscopy only group), and 41 patients received H. pylori eradication first followed by endoscopy (eradication first group). MALT lymphoma development was significantly lower in the eradication first group (2/41, 4.9%) than in the subsequent endoscopy only group (3/8, 37.5%, P = 0.026). Notably, among 35 patients with successful H. pylori eradication, there was only one MALT lymphoma patient (2.9%) in whom complete remission was achieved, and there was no recurrence during a median 45 months of endoscopic follow-up. H. pylori eradication with subsequent endoscopy would be a practical management option for suspicious MALT lymphoma detected in a forceps biopsy specimen obtained during screening upper endoscopy.
Adult ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Biopsy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastric Mucosa/*pathology ; Gastritis/diagnosis/etiology/microbiology ; Gastroscopy ; Helicobacter Infections/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone/complications/*diagnosis/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies