Gastrointestinal Manifestations of Mature B Cell Neoplasms: Single Center Experiences from the Collective Perspective of Hematology and Pathology

Background/aim: Hematological malignancies frequently affect the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, either by secondary extranodal or extramedullary extension to the GI tract or as the primary process, developing in the GI tract. The prevalence of gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (gNHL) is smaller than other solid organ tumours of the GI tract. Therefore, in the absence of nodal or extranodal involvement in imaging methods, difficulties may be encountered in diagnosis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively screened all B-cell lymphoma patients. Then, patients, who had been diagnosed without gastrointestinal system biopsy, were excluded from the study. Demographic data for these patients was obtained from the hospital information system and outpatient clinic files. Slides of these patients were obtained from pathology archive and re-evaluated under light microscope by two pathologists. All cases were diagnosed in line with revised World Health Organization (WHO) 2017 classification. Results: Fifty-five patients were diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma via endoscopic or colonoscopic biopsies. Forty of these patients were diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), ten with Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL), two with Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), two with Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) and one patient with Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma (LPL). Conclusion: In line with the literature, in our study, the patients with GI tract diagnosis had the highest frequency of DLBCL. The second most common B-cell lymphoma was MALToma. Although the frequency of GI involvement is high in MCL, the number of patients, diagnosed with GI involvement was small. The reason for this was that the patients had been diagnosed on the basis of nodal involvement rather than GI biopsy.