What are the causes and symptoms of malt lymphoma?
The majority of MALT lymphomas appear to be the result of infectious agents, most commonly H. pylori in the stomach. It is not known if infectious agents also cause MALT lymphomas outside of the stomach. In some cases, such as in the thyroid, MALT lymphomas seem to arise in patients who have autoimmune diseases, which make their immune systems treat their own tissue as foreign or antigenic. It is believed that there must be additional factors, in addition to infection or autoimmunity, that influence the development of MALT lymphomas. For example, in the United States, where infections with H. pylori are quite common, less than 1 in 30,000 people who have H. pylori in their stomachs develop MALT lymphomas. In addition, individuals who develop MALT lymphomas are more likely to develop other forms of cancer. This would suggest that there might be genetic factors predisposing individuals to develop MALT lymphomas or other tumors in response to environmental or infectious agents. In general
