Abstract
Twelve patients with primary small intestinal lymphoma were followed prospectively for
3 years. Endoscopic abnormalities were diagnostic of lymphoma in all cases where the duodenum was involved (
83%). In three cases (
25%) the disease extended to the stomach. One patient (
8%) had diffuse small cell cleaved and
11 (
92%) diffuse large cell lymphoma stages I (
8%), II (
25%), III (
58%) and IV (
8%). Nine of them were unresectable and primarily treated with combination chemotherapy;
67% achieved complete remission,
22% partial response and
11% no response. Only one patient relapsed and achieved a second remission. All complete remission patients are currently alive and free of disease at a median follow-up of
36 months. Overall survival for all patients is
58%, and disease-free survival is
50%. No instance of chemotherapy-related bleeding or perforation was seen. Tetracycline was necessary for the treatment of IPSID-associated diarrhea and malabsorption in spite of cytotoxic chemotherapy.