Ectopic production of beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin in malignant lymphoma

Ectopic production of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in tumor cells is an uncommon phenomenon that has rarely been documented. The immunoperoxidase method was used to demonstrate the presence of beta-subunit of HCG in malignant lymphoma cases, using paraffin-embedded sections of lymph nodes. 3 of 11 cases of malignant lymphoma (27%) were positively stained with beta-subunit of HCG. All positive cases were T-cell type malignant lymphomas, but all adult T-cell leukemia lymphoma cases did not react with HCG. All B-cell type malignant lymphoma cases were not stained by HCG. Hence, this evidence suggested that beta-subunit of HCG may be useful as a tumor marker in certain malignant lymphoma patients. To the best of our knowledge, production of beta-subunit of HCG in the cytoplasm of malignant lymphoma cells has not been reported.