Enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, or spleen may suggest lymphomas.
MALT lymphomas are generally indolent, that is, they grow slowly and cause little in the way of symptoms.
The plural for lymphoma is lymphomas.
they are often difficult to diagnose. There are no screening tests available, and, since the symptoms are nonspecific, lymphomas are rarely recognized in their early stages.
The exact cause of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas is not known.
Bone marrow transplantation is used in cases where the lymphomas do not respond to conventional therapy, or in cases where the patient has had a relapse or suffers from recurrent lymphomas.
In some cases, such as in the thyroid, MALT lymphomas seem to arise in patients who have autoimmune diseases, which make their immune systems treat their own tissue as foreign or antigenic.
A majority of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas begin in the lymph nodes.
The indolent nature of most MALT lymphomas means that the majority of patients are diagnosed at early stages with relatively nonspecific symptoms.
MALT lymphomas occur at a frequency of about 1.5 per 100,000 people per year in the United States and account for about 10% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
Protecting oneself from developing AIDS, which may be a risk factor for lymphomas, is the only preventive measure that can be practiced.
B cell lymphomas are more common among adults, while among children, the incidence of T and B cell lymphomas are almost equal.
MALT lymphomas are then recognized as areas of inflammation or ulceration within the stomach.