Primary Gastrointestinal T-cell Lymphomas Research Articles

Primary Gastrointestinal T-Cell Lymphoma and Indolent Lymphoproliferative Disorders: Practical Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches.

Simple SummaryIt is challenging for pathologists to diagnose primary gastrointestinal T-cell neoplasms. Besides the rarity of the diseases, the small biopsy material makes it more difficult to differentiate between non-neoplastic inflammation and secondary involvement of extra gastrointestinal lymphoma. Since this group of diseases ranges from aggressive ones with a very poor prognosis to indolent ones that require caution to avoid overtreatment, the impact of the diagnosis on the patient is enormous. Although early treatment of aggressive lymphoma is essential, the treatment strategy is not well established, which is a problem for clinicians. This review provides a cross-sectional comparison of histological findings. Unlike previous reviews, we summarized up-to-date clinically relevant information including the treatment strategies as well as practical differential diagnosis based on thorough literature review.Primary gastrointestinal (GI) T-cell neoplasms are extremely rare heterogeneous disease entities with distinct clinicopathologic features. Given the different prognoses of various disease subtypes, clinicians and pathologists must be aware of the key characteristics of these neoplasms, despite their rarity. The two most common aggressive primary GI T-cell lymphomas are enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma and monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma. In addition, extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma of the nasal type and anaplastic large cell lymphoma may also occur in the GI tract or involve it secondarily. In the revised 4th World Health Organization classification, indolent T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder of the GI tract has been incorporated as a provisional entity. In this review, we summarize up-to-date clinicopathological features of these disease entities, including the molecular characteristics of primary GI T-cell lymphomas and indolent lymphoproliferative disorders. We focus on the latest treatment approaches, which have not been summarized in existing reviews. Further, we provide a comprehensive review of available literature to address the following questions: How can pathologists discriminate subtypes with different clinical prognoses? How can primary GI neoplasms be distinguished from secondary involvement? How can these neoplasms be distinguished from non-specific inflammatory changes at an early stage?

S3015 Primary Gastrointestinal T-cell Lymphoma Presenting as Spontaneous Perforation Peritonitis: A Case Report

S3015 Primary Gastrointestinal T-cell Lymphoma Presenting as Spontaneous Perforation Peritonitis: A Case Report

Endoscopic and clinical analysis of primary T‐cell lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract according to pathological subtype

Little is known about the clinicopathological characteristics of primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas (PGITL). This study evaluated the clinical and endoscopic features of the pathological subtypes of PGITL. Forty-two lesions in 36 patients with PGITL were assessed, including 15 enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphomas (EATL), 13 peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), 10 NK/T-cell lymphomas (NK/TL), and four anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL). PTCL occurred more frequently in the stomach and duodenum and NK/TL more frequently in the small and large intestines (P = 0.009). The endoscopic features of the four subtypes were similar (P = 0.124). Fifteen of 41 lesions (36.6%) were Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive, with NK/TL more likely to be EBV positive than the other types (P < 0.001). First endoscopy and first computed tomography (CT) scan indicated that 65.4% and 51.4% of the lesions, respectively, were malignant, and that 43.2% and 42.3%, respectively, were GI lymphomas. The two modalities together correctly diagnosed about half of the lesions before biopsy. Intestinal perforation was associated with small bowel location (P < 0.001) and infiltrative type (P = 0.009), and was more common in NK/TL than in the other subtypes (P = 0.015). Multivariate analysis showed that higher international prognosis index (P = 0.008) and the presence of complications (P = 0.006) were associated with poor prognosis. Survival was poorer in patients with small bowel lesions than with lesions at other locations (P = 0.048). The four main pathological types of PGITL differed in clinical characteristics. As PGITL was often not diagnosed by initial endoscopic or radiological examination, a high index of suspicion is necessary to ensure its early diagnosis.

Type II enteropathy‐associated T‐cell lymphoma: A multicenter analysis from the Asia Lymphoma Study Group

Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is a rare primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphoma. A multicenter study from the Asia Lymphoma Study Group identified 38 EATL patients within a 19-year period. All cases were type II EATL. Men were affected twice as common as women, at a median age of 59 (23-89) years. None had a history of celiac disease. The sites of involvement were small bowel and stomach (5%), small bowel (63%), small and large bowel (16%), and large bowel (18%). Common presenting features were bowel perforation (34%), pain (32%), and obstruction (21%). Lymphomas showed monomorphic neoplastic lymphoid infiltrates that were CD3⁺ (100%), CD56⁺ (91%), TIA-1⁺ (96%), CD4⁻CD8⁺ (63%), CD4⁺CD8⁺ (19%), CD4⁻CD8⁻ (16%), and CD4⁺CD8⁻ (3%). Epstein Barr virus was demonstrable in three cases. Despite chemotherapy and/or surgical resection, the overall response and complete response rates were poor at 46% and 38%. The median overall survival (OS) was 7 months and progression-free-survival (PFS) 1 month. Five patients underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation all were alive. Age and the prognostic index for peripheral T-cell lymphoma were not prognostically significant. Good performance status was associated with better OS (P = 0.03), and response to initial treatment led to better OS and PFS (P < 0.001).

The Early Diagnostic Accuracy for Gastrointestinal T-cell Lymphoma from a Perspective of Gastroenterologists

most common initial presenting symptoms of primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas was abdominal pain (n=11, 73%). The anatomic location of the primary lesion the small bowel (n=8, 53%), colon (n=5, 33%), and stomach (n=3, 20%). There were no cases of T-cell lymphomas diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, radiologic findings, or endoscopic findings without biopsy alone. Pathologic confirmation of T-cell lymphomas by endoscopic examination was achieved in 7 cases (64%) and the remaining cases (n=8, 53%) were diagnosed with T-cell lymphomas based on pathologic examination after surgery. Conclusions: All of the patients with primary T-cell lymphomas of the gastrointestinal tract were diagnosed exclusively by endoscopic or surgical pathologic examainations, suggesting that gastroenterologists should scrutinize and suspect this disease with caution due to atypical gastrointestinal ulcers. (Intest

Clinicopathologic Analysis of Primary Gastrointestinal T-Cell Lymphoma with a Special Reference to Intestinal and Gastric Type in Japan.

Primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas (PGITL) are very rare and heterogeneous diseases with poor prognosis. Their incidence and pathogenesis may vary with geographical locations. In this study, we aimed to define clinicopathologic and prognostic features of PGITL in Japan, non endemic area for celiac disease, with compared to those in Western countries. 79 patients with PGITL (41 gastric and 38 intestinal lymphoma cases) were enrolled. Epstein-Barr virus associated NK-/T-cell lymphoma and human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 associated adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma cases were excluded from this study. Our intestinal cases (63%) were histopathologically characterized by monomorphic small-to medium-sized tumor cells, which appeared to be contrasted with higher incidence of pleomorphic appearance among Western patients, and by frequent expression of CD8, CD56, and cytotoxic molecules (CM) of those cells, which is consistent with immunohistochemical features of Western cases. Our gastric cases were unique in showing a wide range of histologic and immunophenotypical characteristics with a significantly higher inclusion of non-cytotoxic lymphoma than intestinal cases (33% vs. 9%, P=.0299). Approximately 62% of patients also showed pleomorphic appearance most frequently with CD4+CD8− and CD4–CD8-phenotype. In comparison with gastric patients, intestinal ones were significantly associated with several clinical factors to indicate poor prognosis such as poorer performance status (P=.0232), lower total protein level (P=.0018), and lower serum albumin level (P=.0303). Overall survival of intestinal cases were significantly inferior to that of gastric patients (P = 0.026), while no statistically significant differences were found in survival between CM-positive PGITL cases and –negative ones (P = 0.6). In univariate analysis, the factors that turned out to correlate significantly with survival were total protein level (<6.0g/dL) (HR, 3.696; 95% CI, 1.671 to 8.171; P=.0012), platelet level (<10.0 /μl) (HR, 10.706; 95% CI, 2.713 to 42.244; P=.0007), a higher than normal serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level (HR, 2.574; 95% CI, 1.266 to5.231; P=.009), direct invasion or gastrointestinal perforation (HR, 2.079; 95% CI, 1.013 to 4.267; P=.046), bone marrow involvement of the disease (HR, 3.134; 95% CI, 1.136 to 8.651; P=.0274), performance status equal to or more than 2 (HR, 3.988; 95% CI, 1.763 to 8.882; P=.0007), the International Prognostic Index (IPI) more than low-intermediate (HR, 3.317; 95% CI, 1.304 to 8.441; P=.0119), Prognostic Index for T-cell lymphoma (PIT) scores more than 2 (HR, 8.166; 95% CI, 2.574 to25.904; P=.004), CD8 positivity (HR, 2.041; 95% CI, 1.032 to 4.037; P=.0404), and intestinal case (HR, 2.955; 95% CI, 1.493 to 5.849; P=.0019). Multivariate analysis with individual factors confirmed that PIT scores was a significant (HR, 6.622; 95% CI, 1.108 to 39.566; P=.0382) and platelet level (<10.0 /μl) was a marginally significant (HR, 5.343; 95% CI, .837 to 34.116; P=.0765) prognostic factors independent from other clinical factors. In conclusion, Japanese intestinal lymphoma patients were in keeping with characteristics of Enteropathy type T-cell lymphoma other than an association with celiac disease and monomorphic histology. However, gastric T-cell lymphomas were distinct from intestinal ones, and were separately considered.

Primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphoma resembling multiple lymphomatous polyposis

An extremely rare case of primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphoma involving the stomach and intestine is reported. Radiographic and endoscopic examinations showed multiple polypoid lesions covered by a normal-appearing mucosa in the stomach, duodenal bulb, and terminal ileum and numerous small aphthoid lesions throughout the entire colorectum. Histopathologic, immunohistochemical, and polymerase chain reaction studies were performed using paraffin-embedded or fresh-frozen specimens from endoscopic biopsies and endoscopic mucosal resections. All lesions were composed of small, atypical lymphoid cells, which were classified as low-grade pleomorphic lymphoma. The tumor cells expressed CD3, CD4, and the T-cell receptor gamma gene phenotype as well as human mucosal lymphocyte 1 antigen, suggesting that the lymphoma cells were derived from intraepithelial T lymphocytes. This is the first description of primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphoma with expression of human mucosal lymphocyte 1 antigen and a novel morphology resembling multiple lymphomatous polyposis. (Gastroenterology 1996 Sep;111(3):778-82)

Gastrointestinal lymphoma

Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma comprises a group of distinctive clinicopathological entities, most of which are not included in current lymph node-based lymphoma classifications. They may be of B- or T-cell type, with primary gastrointestinal Hodgkin's disease being extremely uncommon. Most low grade B-cell gastrointestinal lymphomas are of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type, so called because they recapitulate the features of MALT rather than those of lymph nodes. Paradoxically, however, most MALT lymphomas arise in the stomach, which normally contains no organized lymphoid tissue. These gastric MALT lymphomas appear to arise in MALT acquired as a reaction to infection of the stomach by Helicobacter pylori and their growth can be influenced by eradication of this organism from the stomach. Low grade MALT lymphomas, which usually have a very favorable clinical course, may undergo high grade transformation; high grade tumours also may arise de novo and these probably also belong to the MALT group. Immunoproliferative small intestinal disease (IPSID) is a special form of MALT lymphoma with a restricted geographic distribution, which is characterized by synthesis of alpha heavy-chain immunoglobulin. Other gastrointestinal B-cell lymphomas include mantle cell lymphoma, which presents as lymphomatous polyposis, and Burkitt's or Burkitt-like lymphoma. Enteropathy (celiac disease)-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is the most common primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphoma. This is a clinically aggressive tumor that arises from the intraepithelial T-cell population, which is increased in celiac disease.

Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal T-Cell Lymphomas in Routinely Processed Tissues

Diagnosis of primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas is often problematic because lymphoma may not be suspected clinically or on resection, and tissue may not be frozen for immunophenotyping. Furthermore, ulceration and inflammation and the polymorphous character of the lesions makes evaluation difficult. Only approximately 150 cases have been reported, fewer than 20 from North America. We have tried to establish a reliable approach to the diagnosis of gastrointestinal lymphomas of T-cell phenotype in routinely processed tissue. Sections from five primary gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas were stained with a panel of 13 antibodies reactive in routinely fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. These included antibodies to pan-T- and pan-B-cell antigens (CD3, CD20), B- and T-cell-associated antigens (CD43, CD45R0; CDw75, CD74), antigens expressed by activated T-cells (HLA-DR, CD30), leukocyte antigens (CD45, CD15), and macrophage markers (MAC-387, HAM-56). All stained positively with T-cell markers MT-1 and Leu-22, four with UCHL-1, and three with anti-CD3 polyclonal antibody. B-cell markers identified by L-26 and LN-1 were negative in all five, whereas LN-2 was expressed in two. Two expressed HLA-DR; all were Ber-H2 negative. Two had an abnormal phenotype: one was Leu-M1 positive, and one LCA negative. Ten B-cell gastrointestinal lymphoma controls were negative for MT-1, Leu-22, and CD3, and nine were negative for UCHL-1. Nine were positive for the B-cell marker L-26, eight for LN-2, and seven for LN-1. All tumors were negative for monocyte-macrophage markers. This antibody panel provides a reliable means for identifying gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas in paraffin sections. Use of a panel is advisable because of variation in expression and preservation of antigens, and to detect abnormal phenotypes. Application of this approach may facilitate the diagnosis of gastrointestinal T-cell lymphomas both prospectively and in archival material, and thereby encourage studies of the behavior and treatment of these neoplasms.