Localised gastrointestinal diffuse large B cell lymphomas; Does surgical approach still exist?

Abstract Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the commonest pathological type of gastrointestinal lymphoma and its management was changed from surgery to combined chemoimmunotherapy in the last decade; however, this strategy is questionable, especially if rituximab is not available. Methods: Seventy-nine files were reviewed retrospectively. We divided the patients into two groups; group 1 included 37 patients who underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy and group 2 included 42 patients who received chemotherapy. The indication of surgery was mainly due to obstruction/perforation. We compared the outcomes of PFS and OS between the two groups and according to primary anatomical site. Results: We found that the outcomes for the surgery group before chemotherapy was superior to chemotherapy alone in terms of DFS, p = 0.012 and OS p = 0.037. But in the anatomical subgroups analysis, it did not show any significant difference in primary gastric lymphoma (PGL) regarding DFS and OS, p = 0.706, p = 0.858, respectively; On the contrary, we found significant improvement in PFS and OS, p = 0.032, p = 0.025, respectively, in primary intestinal lymphoma (PIL) favouring the use of the surgical approach. Conclusion Surgery is still an important strategy in the case of DLBCL in PIL intestinal lymphoma; however, in the case of PGL, the use of chemotherapy even without rituximab achieves similar results. Our conclusions are limited by the small numbers of the study