Abstract:
Background. The gastrointestinal tract is the most common primary localization for
extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, accounting for 20 to 40% of all extranodal malignant
lymphomas. Approximately in 60-75% of cases, the primary tumor site occurs in the
stomach, develops on a Background. of chronic inflammatory processes.
Objective(s). The aim of this descriptive research was to identify the current diagnostic
patterns and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment options for extranodal gastrointestinal
NHL.
Materials and methods. The study included 50 patients with NHL of the gastrointestinal
tract, who were treated in the Institute of Oncology from the Republic of Moldova, in the
period between 2000-2022, aged by 21 to 78 years (average age - 49 years). The study
results were processed via computerized option using the Microsoft Excel program.
Results. The age group of 50 to 69 years prevailed for both sexes and constituted 64% of
cases. The majority of patients (22 persons, or 44%) were diagnosed with stage IV disease.
The predominance of diffuse large B cell lymphomas (72%) was observed. Clinical signs
were related to the organ in which the tumor first formed but proved to be without any
specific patterns. Complete response (CR) was achieved in all patients (100%) with in stage
IE. In stage II E, it was much lower - 43%. The rate of CR reached 25% in patients with stage
III and IV. The overall survival of patients after 1 year was 78.1%, after 3 years - 59.4% and
after 5 years - 61.9%.
Conclusion(s). Generalized and aggressive NHL prevailed in our study. The response to
treatment mainly depended on the stage of the disease. Under R-COP and R-CHOP
chemotherapy, the overall survival of patients with stage IIIE and IV LNH was 75.1% after 1
year, 59.4% within 3 years, and 28.5% - within 5 years.
