Low grade gastric MALTOMA: Treatment strategies based on 10 year follow-up

AIM: To deduce strategic guidelines of gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALTOMA) by evaluating the long-term outcome of patients in respect to various treatment modalities. METHODS: A total of 55 patients with MALTOMA from May 1992 to August 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Complete remission was obtained in 24 (82.8%) of 29 patients treated with anti Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) regimen only. The duration to reach complete remission was 12 months (85 percentile, 2-33 months). Five patients showed complete remission with radiation therapy (26-86 months). Two of them were H pylori treatment failure cases. CONCLUSION: H pylori eradication is an effective primary treatment option for low grade MALTOMA and radiation therapy could be considered in patients with no evidence of H pylori infection or who do not respond to H pylori eradication therapy 12 months after successful eradication.