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Gastric MALT lymphoma (GML) development is closely associated with Helicobacter pylori infection cases.1 The majority of stage IE GML regress following H pylori eradication but assessing cure of the disease requires prolonged follow up. Residual lymphoid infiltrate in post-treatment gastric biopsies can be very difficult to interpret and histological criteria for the diagnosis of minimal residual disease or complete remission are not clearly defined. Molecular follow up by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region shows that persistent monoclonal bands is observed in 44% of cases showing apparent complete histological remission.2 The significance of ongoing PCR monoclonality in the absence of histological disease is still under investigation.
Thus histological evaluation of gastric biopsies remains the cornerstone …