Abstract
In almost every large study attempting to characterize non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, there is a small subset of tumors for which the lineage remains poorly defined. The investigators studied a series of 20 hematolymphoid neoplasms that could not be clearly assigned to the B or T cell lineage by phenotypic criteria. Histologically, 12 cases had an appearance suggesting a histiocytic origin, seven cases resembled a pleomorphic immunoblastic lymphoma, and one had a sarcomatoid appearance. By immunologic studies, a variety of B cell, T cell, and monocyte/ macrophage markers were expressed on the neoplasms, often with coexpression of markers for different lineages. Twelve cases expressed the Ki-1 antigen. In immunogenotyping studies of T cell receptor (TCR) and immunoglobulin genes, 13 cases showed clonal rearrangements of the β or γ TCR gene; one of these cases also had clonal rearrangements of a light chain immunoglobulin gene. Seven cases showed a germline configuration with all combinations of probes and enzymes used. We conclude that a small subset of hematolymphoid neoplasms shows a pattern of diverse immunologic marker expression that does not appear to reflect normal differentiation. However, a majority of these cases contain clonal TCR gene rearrangements, suggesting a frequent relationship to the T lineage.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 967-973 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Human Pathology |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1988 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Ki-1 lymphoma
- histiocytic neoplasms
- malignant lymphoma
- non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine