A novel flow cytometric antibody panel for distinguishing Burkitt lymphoma from CD10+ diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Rapid and accurate differential diagnosis between Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and CD10+ diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is imperative because their treatment differs. Recent studies have characterized several antigens differentially expressed in these 2 types of lymphoma. Our goal was to determine whether use of these markers would aid in the differential diagnosis of BL vs CD10+ DLBCL by flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI). Twenty-three cases of CD10+ B-cell lymphomas with available cryopreserved samples were identified (13 BL and 10 CD10+ DLBCL). Multiparameter FCI was performed using the following antibodies: CD18, CD20, CD43, CD44, and CD54 and isotype controls. Expression of CD44 and CD54 was detected at a significantly lower level in BL compared with CD10+ DLBCL (P = .001 and P = .01, respectively). There was not a significant difference in expression of CD18 and CD43. Our data show that expression of CD44 and CD54 differs significantly between BL and CD10+ DLBCL.