RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Primary gastrointestinal non-hodgkin lymphomas (PGI-NHL) are uncommon diseases with treatment modalities including chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. Our aim is to analyze the demographic and clinical features and treatment results of PGI-NHL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 286 patients diagnosed with lymphoma who referred to Ataturk University Medical Faculty Hospital between July 2001 and April 2014 were surveyed retrospectively and 22 (7.6%) PGI-NHL cases whose primary lesions were in gastrointestinal system were included. RESULTS: Mean age was 47 (min.25-max.77) and 14 (63.6%) of them were men. The origin was determined as small intestines (50%), stomach (31.8%) and colon (18.2%), respectively. The most common complaint and pathologic subtype were abdominal pain (68.2%) and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (86.4%), respectively. The Lugano Classification was as follows: stage 1 (18.2%), stage 2 (59.1%), and stage 4 (22.7%). Surgery and chemotherapy were administered to 40.9% of patients. Complete and partial response and disease progression were established in 72.1%, 4.5% and 13.6% of the patients, respectively. Mean survival time was 99.6±16 months. Mean overall survival time was determined significantly longer in small bowel group than gastric group (119±15 vs. 50±24 months) (p=0.039). Age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, International Prognostic Index, stage, histological type, tumor size, LDH level, albumin level, Hemoglobin level and treatment options were not associated with survival. CONCLUSION: Demographic and clinical characteristics of our series were similar with Middle Eastern and African countries. Optimal treatment options or prognostic factors for PGI-NHL are not clear. There is a need for randomized prospective studies including large number of patients and long follow-up period.