Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026
Interphase Fluorescence in situ Hybridization of Bone Marrow Smears of Multiple Myeloma
Published on: April 15, 2022
Characterization of tissue findings in bone marrow biopsy specimens with small monoclonal B-cell populations
Beverly P Nelson1, Anmaar Abdul-Nabi, Charles Goolsby
1Dept of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School, 251 Huron St, Feinberg 7-208, Chicago, IL 60611; bpnelson@northwestern.edu.
Objectives:
Bone marrows (BMs) with incidentally identified, small monotypic B-cell populations (MBPs) were evaluated.
Methods:
BM aspirates with MBPs representing 5% or less of total events by flow cytometry, less than 5.0 × 10(9)/L B cells in blood, and no history of lymphoma or MBP with a different phenotype from prior lymphoma were selected. Clinical, immunophenotypic, and histologic findings were evaluated.
Results:
Forty-one of 3,052 BMs had MBPs at 5% or less of total events (median, 1%); 17 were females and 24 were males aged 30 to 87 years (median, 73 years). The MBPs were CD5- in 24, CD5+ resembling chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 13, and CD5+ unlike CLL in four. Eighteen of 40 had lymphoid aggregates (LAs) with mostly T cells or a mixture of B and T cells, but three cases had B-cell-rich LAs.
Conclusions:
Unlike monoclonal B lymphocytosis in blood, MBPs in BMs were more commonly CD5-. Forty-five percent of BMs had LAs; none were interpreted as lymphoma, although three were suspicious for B-cell lymphoma.
