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.