Gender Aspects in Extranodal Marginal Zone B-Cell Lymphoma of the Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue: Does Sex Matter?

OBJECTIVES: Gender-related aspects have been investigated in a variety of tumor entities including results on sex-specific differences in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, there are no data on gender differences in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma.

METHODS: We have analyzed 327 patients treated between 1999 and 2015 with a median follow-up time of 55.2 months.

RESULTS: There was a female predominance, with 197 female (60.2%) and 130 male patients (39.8%, female-to-male ratio 1.5). The mean age was comparable between female and male patients (61.2 vs. 61.7 years, p = 0.777). Female patients less frequently had gastric MALT lymphoma (31.5 vs. 39.2%), but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.149). Extragastric manifestations were equally distributed, except for parotid (p = 0.003) and breast lymphoma (n = 8, 100% female) showing a female predominance. This was most likely related to a higher rate of active autoimmune disorders in women (35.6 vs. 11.0%, p < 0.001). β2-Microglobulin elevation at diagnosis occurred more often in female patients (42.8 vs. 26.0%; p = 0.008). However, this did not translate into a worse progression-free survival for female (56.0 months, 95% CI 30.1-81.9) versus male patients (49.0 months, 95% CI 25.4-72.5, p = 0.433). Overall survival did not differ between groups.

CONCLUSION: Our data show surprisingly little differences between female and male patients with MALT lymphoma. Both sexes appeared to have well-balanced clinical features and an identical prognosis.