The immunophenotyping of non-hodgkin's lymphoma in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue - abstract

In this study, we have retrospectively determined the immunophenotype of forty-five cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (HNL) diagnosed in the Department of Pathology at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) between 1984 and 1986. We used an immunoalkaline phosphatase technique with a panel of monoclonal antibodies reactive against T-cells (UCHL 1; MT 1), B cells (L 26; 4KB5; LN 2) and macrophages (Ber.H2). We found that this panel could accurately identify T-cell lymphomas and B cell lymphomas in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. Of forty-five cases, twenty-six were of T-cell lineage and twelve were of B-cell lineage. Sixteen of the T-cell lymphomas were human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1) positive and showed the additional clinical and pathological features of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). The HTLV-1 negative cases were neither morphologically nor immunologically different from the HTLV-1 positive patients. None of the B cell lymphomas were HTLV-1 positive. The results lend further support to the finding that NHL in Jamaican patients is predominantly of T cell origin and associated with human T cell lymphotropic virus, type 1 (AU)