Chromosome instability and translocation t(11;18) in primary gastric marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT-type.

The prognosis for patients with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas is good; these tumours have usually an indolent course with overall survival rates that are greater than 80% at 5-year, but some rare cases with histological transformation in aggressive diffuse large cell lymphoma have also been diagnosed. Here, we present cytogenetic results on endoscopic bioptic material of 42 cases of primary gastric extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (EMZL) using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) approach with API2, MALT1 and centromeric probes for chromosome 3 and 18, and their impact on the clinical outcome.