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Aberrant CD20 expression in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
Takayoshi Tachibana1, Naoto Tomita, Mitsuko Furuya
1Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Internal Medicine (Tokyo, Japan)
|March 5, 2011
Summary
This study details a rare case of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) that aberrantly expressed CD20. This unusual CD20 expression in AITL suggests rituximab may be a therapeutic option.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Immunology
Background:
- Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a subtype of peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
- AITL typically exhibits a CD3(+)CD20(-) immunophenotype.
Observation:
- A 60-year-old male patient with AITL presented with aberrant CD20 expression during disease progression.
- Biopsy specimens revealed CD20 positivity in lymphoma cells via flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry.
- Double immunostaining confirmed simultaneous CD3 and CD20 positivity in lymphoma cells.
Findings:
- The patient's disease was refractory to chemotherapy.
- Autopsy revealed a composite lymphoma of AITL and Epstein-Barr virus-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
- The instability of CD20 antigen expression in AITL remains unclear.
Implications:
- Aberrant CD20 expression in AITL warrants consideration of rituximab as a potential therapeutic strategy.
- This case highlights the phenotypic variability within AITL.
- Further research is needed to understand the correlation between CD20 expression instability and AITL behavior.
