Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involving the ileocecal region: a single-institution analysis of 46 cases in a Chinese population.

Background And Goals: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) involving the ileocecal region is a rare occurrence. Optimal management and treatment outcomes of ileocecal NHL have not been well defined.

Study: In this study, clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors of 46 Chinese patients with ileocecal NHL were retrospectively analyzed.

Results: Among 46 patients, the median age of these patients was 46 years and 84.8% of them were male. Twenty-four cases (52.2%) had early-stage disease (stage I/II1/II2) and 35 (76.1%) cases were of B-cell origin. Higher incidence of fever (P=0.001) and intestinal perforation (P=0.038) at onset was observed in T-cell lymphomas. Surgical emergencies occurred in 13 patients, including 8 patients who were receiving chemotherapy. Patients with T-cell advanced ileocecal NHL (stage IIE/IV) suffered more surgical emergencies during chemotherapy than others (P=0.005). The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates for these 46 patients were 64.2% and 49.3%, respectively. Early-stage cases undergoing radical resection before chemotherapy had a prolonged 5-year progression-free survival rate (P=0.01). In multivariate analysis, both advanced stage and T-cell phenotype were identified as independent prognostic factors for poor survival.

Conclusions: Radical resection before chemotherapy should be considered in early-stage ileocecal NHL to achieve a better survival. Palliative resection of the primary lesion before chemotherapy may be necessary in T-cell advanced cases to avoid surgical emergencies during chemotherapy. Owing to the small sample number in this study, a prospective analysis with larger sample number is highly necessary.