A study of lymphoproliferative diseases comparing immunofluorescence with immunohistochemistry

Sections of lymph nodes from patients with lymphoproliferative disorders were stained by immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase methods. Staining with anti-kappa and anti-lambda antibodies employed F(ab')2 fragments of purified antibodies to avoid binding via Fc receptors. Frozen-section immunofluorescence revealed that B-cell lymphomas were composed of monoclonal populations of Ig-bearing cells. With immunohistochemical technics, however, a significant number of B-cell lymphomas either did not stain for Ig or showed spurious staining. The possible reasons for lack of staining in some cases and spurious staining in others are discussed. As currently applied to lymphoproliferative disorders, immunofluorescence appears to be more senitive and more speific than immunohistochemistry.