Abstract
Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma arising in the thymus is extremely rare and little is known regarding its clinicopathological features. This study examined the clinicopathological features of nine cases of thymic MALT lymphoma. Most patients had autoimmune disease or hyperglobulinemia, and they also had cysts in the tumors. Both increased serum autoantibody levels and polyclonal serum immunoglobulin levels remained essentially unchanged after total thymectomy in all patients. Thymic MALT lymphoma needs to be included in the differential diagnosis in Asian patients with a cystic thymic mass accompanied by autoimmune disease or hyperglobulinemia.
MeSH terms
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Adult
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Aged
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Autoantibodies / blood
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Autoimmune Diseases / diagnosis*
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Autoimmune Diseases / genetics
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Autoimmune Diseases / metabolism
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Diagnosis, Differential
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Female
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Humans
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Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / diagnosis*
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Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / genetics
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Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / metabolism
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Neoplasm Staging
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / metabolism
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Prognosis
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RNA, Messenger / genetics
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RNA, Messenger / metabolism
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Thymus Neoplasms / diagnosis*
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Thymus Neoplasms / genetics
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Thymus Neoplasms / metabolism
Substances
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API2-MALT1 fusion protein, human
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Autoantibodies
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
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RNA, Messenger