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Long-Term Persistence of Monoclonal B Cells After Cure of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Complete Histologic Remission in Gastric Mucosa–Associated Lymphoid Tissue B-Cell Lymphoma

From the Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus der Technischen Universität, Dresden; Abteilung für Hämatologie, Onkologie und Immunologie, Philipps Universität, Marburg; Institut für Immunologie der Technischen Universität, Dresden; and Institut für Pathologie, Klinikum Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

Address reprint requests to Christian Thiede, MD, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus der Technischen Universität, Dresden, Germany; email: thiede{at}oncocenter.de

PURPOSE: Cure of Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with remission induction in the majority of patients with low-grade gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in localized stages; however, limited data exist as to whether these patients may be cured of their lymphoma. The present study was performed to investigate whether the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain region may be used to define "molecular" remission.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-seven patients who suffered from low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma stage I_E were observed with central pathology and molecular biology after cure of H pylori infection. PCR was performed with the use of consensus primers for the framework regions 1, 2, and 3 and monoclonality was corroborated by sequence analysis. In selected cases, microdissection was performed to study the origin of the monoclonal B cells.

RESULTS: Of the 97 patients, 77 obtained complete endoscopic and histologic remission (CR). Twenty of 44 patients with PCR monoclonality at diagnosis and with sufficient molecular follow-up displayed monoclonal bands for a median time of 20.5 months after CR (range, 0 to 50.4 months). These B cells were related to the original lymphoma clone by sequence analysis. Microdissection analysis identified basal lymphoid aggregates as the source of these monoclonal B cells. Local relapse occurred in and was observed by PCR in four patients. All four patients displayed monoclonal PCR before relapse, and three of these four showed ongoing PCR monoclonality throughout their course, indicating the persistence of malignant cells.

CONCLUSION: Half of all patients with gastric MALT lymphoma show long-term PCR monoclonality up to several years after cure of H pylori infection and CR. Patients with monoclonal PCR should be observed closely, whereas long-term PCR negativity may indicate cure of the disease.

Presented in part at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association, Orlando, FL, May 15-19 and at the Forty-First Annual Meeting of the American Society for Hematology, New Orleans, LA, December 3-7, 1999.

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