[Immunologic study of lymphoproliferative diseases]

Thirty six patients with stage IV lymphoproliferative diseases, were studied with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. There were 26 B-Lymphoproliferative Diseases (BLD): 11 B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 15 B-cell non Hodgkin lymphoma and 10 T-Lymphoproliferative Diseases (TLD): 4 T-cell non Hodgkin lymphoma, 4 adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, 1 T-chronic lymphocytic leukemia and 1 Sezary Syndrome. HLA-DR and CD 19 (B4) were the most common antigens found in BLD. CD4 + CD8 was the most common phenotype in TLD. 13 out of 26 BLD and 1 out of 10 TLD, patient were alive at the end of a 4 year observation period. Our study shows that immunophenotyping is a very useful diagnostic test in lymphoproliferative diseases. Along with cytology and histopathology, it can better define different pathologic groups and lead more specific treatments.