Flow cytometric analysis of kappa and lambda light chain expression in endoscopic biopsy specimens before the...

Forty-eight patients with gastrointestinal (GI) tract B-cell lymphoma (BCL) were analyzed retrospectively. The diagnosis was based on the histological examination of specimens obtained by endoscopic biopsy. Before the diagnosis was made, single-color flow cytometry was performed to analyze the expression of light chains and B-cell antigens including CD10 in the specimens. Restricted light chain (RLC) expression, a marker of B-cell clonality, was defined as κ and λ ratios of either more than 3.0 or less than 0.5. The specimens from 30 patients (62.5%) showed RLC expression. No RLC expression or RLC expression not examined was divided into two groups : those showing CD10 positivity in more than 20% of cells (4 patients, 8.3%) and those showing no positivity (14 patients, 29.2%). The cell number analyzed in the latter group was significantly smaller than that in the other two groups. Abnormal karyotypes were found in the specimens from 8 patients (16.7%). These results indicate that the flow cytometric analysis of endoscopic biopsy specimens is useful when BCL is suspected if an adequate number of cells are obtained.