Measurement of proliferation indices in non Hodgkin's lymphoma--is it useful?

In this review we discuss the possible value of additional information concerning growth characteristics of NHL's for the prognosis of the individual patient. Techniques for measuring cell cycle kinetic parameters (e.g. S-phase assessment) and proliferation related antigens (e.g. anti-transferrin receptor and Ki67) are shortly reviewed. This is followed by an overview of proliferation studies in NHL. Until now in most of these studies overall measurements of tumour tissue have been performed. Moreover the parameters that have been assessed are related to proliferation state rather than proliferation rate. None of the methods used has a convincing superiority with regard to clinical outcome. In the future, tumour specific assessment (by means of double-labeling techniques) of proliferation rate parameters might provide information, more relevant to the prognosis of the individual patient with NHL.