Anti‐<italic>Helicobacter pylori</italic> therapy in localized gastric mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: A prospective, nationwide, multicenter study in Japan.

Abstract: Background: <italic>Helicobacter pylori</italic> eradication therapy was approved in Japan for the first‐line, standard treatment of <italic>H. pylori</italic>‐positive gastric mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Although several retrospective studies or small‐scale single‐center studies have been reported, a prospective, large‐scale, nationwide, multicenter study has not been reported from Japan. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, nationwide, multicenter study to evaluate the clinical efficacy of rabeprazole‐based triple <italic>H. pylori</italic> eradication therapy for patients with localized gastric MALT lymphoma in practice‐based clinical trial. A total of 108 <italic>H. pylori</italic>‐positive patients with stage I/II1 gastric MALT lymphoma underwent <italic>H. pylori</italic> eradication therapy. The primary endpoints were complete remission (CR) rate and the rate of transfer to secondary treatment. The secondary endpoints were CR maintenance duration and overall survival (OS). Results: CR of lymphoma was achieved in 84 of 97 patients (86.6%), during the period 2.0‐44.7 months (median, 5.3 months) after starting <italic>H. pylori</italic> eradication treatment. CR was maintained in 77 of 81 patients (95.1%) for 0.4‐53.2 months (median, 33.1 months). Secondary treatments (radiotherapy, rituximab, or gastrectomy) for gastric MALT lymphoma were needed in 10 of the 97 patients (10.31%). During follow‐up, OS rate was 96.9% (94/97) and the causes of 3 deaths were not related to lymphoma. Conclusions: Rabeprazole‐based <italic>H. pylori</italic> eradication therapy demonstrated a high CR rate, long CR maintenance, and a good OS for patients with localized gastric MALT lymphoma in this prospective, practice‐based, multicenter study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]