Background and Objectives
The colon is a rare location for gastrointestinal non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma. We retrospectively analyzed the demographic data of patients with colonic lymphoma and the possible prognostic factors of the disease.
Methods
We studied data obtained from 6,944 patients and performed a retrospective review of patients with primary colonic lymphoma (PCL) by using a pathology registry database. We employed well‐established and accepted diagnostic criteria and clinical staging method.
Results
Twenty‐nine patients (19 men; 10 women) were diagnosed with PCL. The cecum was the most common tumor location (14/29 patients), and 17 cases (17/29) showed diffuse large–B‐cell lymphomas. Four patients died of sepsis within 30 days of an emergency surgery for perforation of intestine. Two‐thirds of the patients were in the early disease stages (stages I and II). The overall 5‐year survival rate was 47.3%. Disease stage was not a prognostic factor for survival. The overall 5‐year survival rate in patients treated with surgery followed by chemotherapy was statistically significant as compared to that in the patients treated with chemotherapy alone.
Conclusion
PCL is a rare malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract, and surgical resection should be considered a part of the standard treatment to achieve a better outcome. J. Surg. Oncol. 2011; 104:265–268. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.