Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. May 15, 2025; 17(5): 104802
Published online May 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i5.104802
Imaging findings of primary monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma: A case report
Wen-Jian Tang, Shu-Hua Luo, Zhen Wu, Yuan Kang, Bo Lan, Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Jun-Yuan Zhong, Jian-Ping Zhong, Chun-Ju Wen
Wen-Jian Tang, Shu-Hua Luo, Yuan Kang, Bo Lan, Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Jun-Yuan Zhong, Jian-Ping Zhong, Ganzhou Institute of Medical Imaging, Ganzhou Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence, Medical Imaging Center, Ganzhou People’s Hospital, The Affiliated Ganzhou Hospital of Nanchang University, Ganzhou Hospital-Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
Zhen Wu, Department of Pathology, Ganzhou People’s Hospital, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
Chun-Ju Wen, Department of Hematology, Ganzhou People’s Hospital, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
Co-first authors: Wen-Jian Tang and Shu-Hua Luo.
Co-corresponding authors: Jian-Ping Zhong and Chun-Ju Wen.
Author contributions: Tang WJ and Luo SH wrote the initial draft and contributed equally as co-first authors; Wen CJ and Zhong JP provided clinical supervision and contributed equally as co-corresponding authors; Tang WJ, Luo SH, Wu Z, Kang Y, Lan B, Zhang ZQ, Zhong JY, Zhong J, and Wen C contributed to data analysis, drafting and revising the article, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82160330; the Science and Technology Program of the Health Commission of Jiangxi Province, No. 2025110045; the Ganzhou Science and Technology Planning Project, No. GZ2024YLJ016, No. GZ2024YLJ026, and No. GZ2024ZSF064; and the Ganzhou Health Commission Scientific Research Planning Project, No. GZWJW202402108.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chun-Ju Wen, MD, Department of Hematology, Ganzhou People’s Hospital, No. 16 Meiguan Avenue, Zhanggong District, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China. wenchunju@mail.gzsrmyy.com
Received: January 10, 2025
Revised: February 22, 2025
Accepted: March 14, 2025
Published online: May 15, 2025
Processing time: 126 Days and 7.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (MEITL) is an uncommon and highly aggressive form of lymphoma that represents less than 1% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. At present, few reports have focused on the imaging findings of MEITL, which poses significant challenges for clinical diagnosis.

CASE SUMMARY

A 78-year-old female with recurrent vomiting and abdominal distension was admitted to our hospital. Magnetic resonance and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) examinations revealed multiple segmental malignant tumors in the small intestine with mesenteric lymph node metastasis. An endoscopic biopsy revealed MEITL. After three cycles of reduced-dose cyclophosphamide, vinorelbine, and prednisone chemotherapy, follow-up 18F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated a partial response to treatment. The patient was still alive after 6 months of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Magnetic resonance imaging serves as a valuable tool in detecting malignant tumor lesions of MEITL, whereas 18F-FDG PET/CT offers additional assistance in tumor staging and assessing treatment efficacy.

Keywords: Intestinal cancer; T-cell lymphoma; Imaging findings; 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography; Case report

Core Tip: Monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma is an uncommon and highly aggressive form of lymphoma, making it challenging to distinguish this disease from other intestinal-related disease in clinical practice. In this case, we present the magnetic resonance and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography details of a 78-year-old female patient who presented with recurrent vomiting and abdominal distension. After completing three cycles of reduced-dose cyclophosphamide, vinorelbine, and prednisone regimen chemotherapy, the follow-up 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography revealed partial response in treatment efficacy. We further summarized the imaging findings of monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma reported previously in the literature.