Possibilities of flow cytometric analysis for immunophenotypic characterization of canine lymphoma

The purpose of the study presented here is to show the possibilities of flow cytometric analysis for immunophenotypic characterization of canine malignant lymphoma. Aspiration biopsies from lymph nodes of 30 dogs with multicentric lymphoma were stained by four dog-specific antibodies and three human-specific antibodies cross-reacting with canine lymphocytes, and analysed by flow cytometry. Twenty of the 30 lymphoma examined were characterized as B-cell-lymphoma and 10 as T-cell-lymphoma. Flow cytometry is a suitable method for the immunophenotypic analysis of canine lymphoma. Contrary to immunohistochemistry, no surgically produced lymph node biopsy is required and the results are available within a few hours.