Gastric MALT lymphoma, what causes it?

These types of lymphoma are usually low-grade, which means they are usually little evil, although unfortunately on some occasions they can progress and become high-grade lymphomas that would be more malignant and potentially fatal.

Gastric MALT Lymphoma is related to the presence of, which means that of people who have this type of lymphoma around a 90% of them will also have the bacteria. But, on the contrary, of the people who are colonized by the bacteria, only a few will develop gastric MALT lymphoma.

This bacterium is very common in our population and generally does not cause pathology, but is sometimes responsible for the appearance of a type that causes lesions that favor the development of MALT-type lymphoma by facilitating the infiltration of lymphocytes into the glands. of the stomach.

Symptoms

The symptoms are usually very nonspecific and similar to other digestive diseases such as gastroesophageal reflux, peptic ulcers and other types of stomach tumors. Feeling, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and weight loss generally appear. Very rarely there may be digestive perforations or bleeding.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is made by a gastroscopy In which, at first, at a macroscopic level, lesions suggestive of MALT lymphoma are evidenced, which is confirmed by taking samples to send to pathology for analysis by the pathologist through a microscope.

It is also important to take a sample to analyze the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach.

Depending on the results, the study will be completed using techniques that facilitate determining the extent of the lesions.

Treatment

The treatment of choice for most gastric MALT lymphomas is Helicobacter Pylori eradication of the stomach by combining an antisecretor (drugs of the omeprazole family) and a antibiotic treatment combined oral for two weeks. There are different lines of antibiotics given the resistance sometimes in the first line of treatment.

Helicobacter pylori eradication is related to tumor remission since 80% of lymphomas will disappear, although we will have to wait for about a year to see the results. Fortunately, once the tumor disappears, its remission usually remains stable over the years, so it can be said that the prognosis is good.

On a lesser occasion, those MALT lymphomas that have been diagnosed in a more advanced situation and are high-grade will also have to be treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy and, rarely, by surgery.

Patients treated for MALT lymphoma should undergo frequent gastroscopic examinations in search of the persistence of lesions for one year to confirm the disappearance of cell tumors by means of analysis of tissues by biopsy.

The controls will be repeated in time for a few years or even a lifetime.

They have digestive specialists in their medical chart to treat these types of diseases. CALCULATE YOUR PRICE

• Gastric MALT lymphoma is one of the best known and one of the most frequently diagnosed. It is classified within the group of Non-Hodking lymphomas.
• Gastric MALT Lymphoma is related to the presence of the Helicobacter Pylori bacteria, which means that of the people who have this type of lymphoma, around 90% of them will also have the bacteria.
• The treatment of choice for most gastric MALT lymphomas is the eradication of Helicobacter Pylori from the stomach by the combination of an antisecretory agent (drugs of the omeprazole family) and a combined oral antibiotic treatment for two weeks.