[Expression of ALK protein in large cell lymphoma with ALCL chromosome translocation in relation to prognosis]

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein resulted from chromosome translocation in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and its relationship with the age and prognosis of patients with ALCL. The tissue microarray including 30 cases of ALCL and 2 normal control tissues were established, the expression of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein was detected by immunohistochemistry, the statistical analysis of detected results was carried out by SPSS software. The results showed that the ALK protein was expressed negatively in 2 cases of primary skin ALCL, but in 20 out of 28 cases of systematic ALCL the ALK protein was expressed positively and mainly located in cytoplasm and/or nucleus (71.4%). Clinically, the patients with ALK expression were younger than those without ALK expression (p < 0.05). The prognosis of patients with ALK expression was better than those without ALK expression (p < 0.05). It is concluded that there is a high incidence of ALK expression in ALCL, especially in younger group. ALK expression may be an useful and independent marker for the differential diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of ALCL.