GOALS AND BACKGROUND Little is still known regarding the clinical features and prognosis of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma without Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection.

STUDY From January 1996 to April 2006, a total of 185 patients with gastric MALT lymphoma were enrolled at Seoul National University Hospital. To assess the differences in clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes between H. pylori-negative (n=29, 15.7%) and H. pylori-positive (n=156, 84.3%) cases, we compared these 2 types of lymphoma.

RESULTS The overall median follow-up period was 39 months. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of age, macroscopic phenotype, or histologic grade. H. pylori-negative group showed male predominancy (72.4%) and higher percentage of proximal stomach location (62.1%). Although H. pylori-negative lymphomas were more frequently presented as advanced disease (stage IIE or IV, 37.9%), no significant differences in both the overall complete response and overall survival rates were observed between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that H. pylori-negative gastric MALT lymphoma shows a favorable long-term outcome, which is comparable to that of H. pylori-positive lymphoma.