Surgical implications of primary gastrointestinal lymphoma of childhood
I. D. Fleming, P. S. Turk, S. B. Murphy, W. M. Crist, V. M. Santana and B. N. Rao
Department of Surgery, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38101.
Our purpose was to summarize information from a large single institution's
experience regarding the role of surgical resection in the management of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children and adolescents. Fifty-eight children
were treated for primary gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The
tumors usually presented in the ileocolic region (n = 54). Twenty-one
children presented with intussusception. Complete surgical resection of
tumor was accomplished in 32 patients, partial resection in 20, and biopsy
only in 6. All patients were given lymphoma protocols employing
chemotherapy and irradiation. Forty-four (76%) of 58 patients are surviving
from 1 year to greater than 20 years from diagnosis. Thirty-one of 32
patients who underwent complete resection followed by protocol management
are surviving, compared with 13 of 26 children with residual gross disease.
The results indicate that children with primary gastrointestinal
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma benefit from complete surgical resection when
feasible.
