Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the urinary bladder

A 54-year-old woman presented with hematopyuria. She had experienced difficulty in urinating since undergoing surgery for rectal cancer 15 years earlier. Cystoscopy revealed an edematous mucosa and a submucosal tumor. Computed tomography showed irregular thickening of the bladder wall and tumor-like masses. Although she started clean intermittent self-catheterization to manage the neurogenic bladder, the thickening of the wall became worse. We performed transurethral biopsy of the bladder, and histopathological examination of the specimens revealed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type. A diagnosis of stage IE primary MALT lymphoma of the bladder was made. The tumor persisted even after antibiotic therapies for a urinary tract infection and eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Definitive radiotherapy (30 Gy) was administered to the bladder. Subsequent computed tomography revealed disappearance of the wall thickening, and transurethral resection showed no residual lesion of lymphoma. She has maintained a complete response for 9 months of follow-up.