BACKGROUND: Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is a relatively common type of lymphoma arising in various tissues throughout the human body. Currently, there is no standard chemotherapy for advanced stage MALT lymphoma. This has prompted us to retrospectively analyse our experience with the MCP regimen (mitoxantrone, chlorambucil and prednisone) in patients with MALT lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with histologically verified MALT lymphoma undergoing chemotherapy with MCP were evaluated retrospectively. The MCP regimen consists of mitoxantrone 8 mg/m(2) intravenously on days 1 and 2, chlorambucil 3 x 3 mg/m(2) per os (p.o.) on days 1-5 and prednisone 25 mg/m(2) p.o. on days 1-5. Information analysed included localisation of the lymphoma, clinical stage, pretreatment, number of chemotherapy cycles administered, toxicity, response to treatment, follow-up time, relapse and survival. RESULTS: A total of 15 patients (six females and nine males aged between 34 and 88 years) with histologically ascertained MALT lymphoma undergoing treatment with the MCP regimen were identified from our records. Ten patients had extragastric lymphoma, while five patients suffered from gastric MALT lymphoma. All patients were chemotherapy-naïve, while two had been locally irradiated before application of MCP for recurrent disease. A total of 74 cycles was administered to our patients, with a median number of five cycles per patient. Eight (53%) patients achieved complete remission, six (40%) patients partial response and only one (7%) patient had progressive disease. Subjective tolerance was excellent, and toxicities were mainly haematological, including granulocytopenia World Health Organisation grade 3 and 4 in three patients each. In two patients, this was accompanied by single episodes of uncomplicated herpes simplex infection. At the time of analysis, all patients are still alive. No relapses have occurred after a median follow-up time of 16 (range 12-29) months. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that MCP is an effective and well-tolerated regimen for treatment of patients with MALT lymphoma irrespective of localisation. Judging from our data, MCP also appears to be a feasible regimen in elderly patients.