A boy is brought with complaints of abdominal pain since few days. There was an palpable mass in his abdomen. Which is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy of childhood?: (A) Adenocarcinoma, (B) Lymphoma, (C) Carcinoid, (D) Sarcoma
Answer is B. Lymphoma is the most common malignant neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract in childhood. Most lymphomas are the non-Hodgkin subtype, paicularly Burkitt lymphoma. Clinical findings include a palpable mass and abdominal pain. The sonographic findings are gastric wall thickening and a bulky polypoid mass with intramural and extramural extension. Additional findings are splenomegaly and mesenteric or retroperitoneal lymph node enlargement. Ref: Pediatric Sonography By Marilyn J. Siegel, 2010, Page 348 ; Pediatric Pathology, 2e By J. Thomas Stocker, Louis P. Dehner, Volume 2, 2001, Page 682 ; Atlas of pediatric gastrointestinal disease: Pa 1 - Page 87