The prognosis of patients with primary pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: Treated with surgery or chemotherapy?

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of this project was to evaluate the effect of surgical treatment and the long-term survival of patients with staged IE/IIE pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma.

Methods: From January 2004 to December 2018, we retrospectively analysed 96 patients diagnosed with low-stage primary pulmonary MALT lymphoma according to the modified Ann Arbor staging system (IE/IIE). We compared the outcomes of different treatment modalities for staged IE/IIE MALT lymphoma. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves, and the differences were compared using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was used in this study.

Results: The median PFS time of low-staged MALT lymphomas was 118 months. The overall survival and PFS of the radical surgery group and the biopsy + chemotherapy group suggested no significant difference (P = 0.63, P = 0.65). Patients positive for Blc-2 and Ki-67 suffered from a compromised PFS (P = 0.023, P = 0.006). The Cox adjusted proportional hazards model analysis suggested that surgical procedures were not protective factors for patients with low-staged (IE/IIE) pulmonary MALT lymphoma, whereas being positive for Blc-2 and Ki-67 was a risk factor for patients with low-staged pulmonary MALT lymphoma (hazard ratio: 9.567; P = 0.044; hazard ratio: 6.042, P = 0.049).

Conclusions: Our findings suggested that for staged IE/IIE pulmonary MALT lymphoma, radical surgical resection did not provide a survival benefit compared with chemotherapy after biopsy. Thus, radical surgery may be avoided unless biopsy is necessary for a diagnosis that requires sublobar resection. For those lesions that were Blc-2- or Ki-67-positive, compromised survival may be suggested.

Keywords: Low-staged (IE/IIE); Pulmonary MALT lymphoma; Survival; Treatment modalities.