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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Isolation of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells from Mouse Nasal Mucosa to Detect the Expression of CD226
Published on: May 10, 2022
Identification of Cytological Features Distinguishing Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma from Reactive
Ayana Suzuki1, Mitsuyoshi Hirokawa2, Aki Ito1
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Kuma Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Objective:
To identify cytological differences between mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALT-L) and nonneoplastic lymphocytes using thyroid liquid-based cytology (LBC).
Study Design:
We observed LBC and conventional specimens from 35 MALT-L cases, 3 diffuse large B-cell cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cases, and 44 prominent nonneoplastic lymphocytic infiltration cases.
Results:
In MALT-L cases, the incidence of lymphoglandular bodies in the LBC specimens was lower than that in the conventional specimens (p < 0.001). Moreover, the nuclear sizes in LBC specimens were larger than those in conventional specimens. In 62.9% of the MALT-L and all DLBCL specimens, large nuclei were present in > 10% of the lymphoid cells in LBC specimens. Two cases with prominent nonneoplastic lymphocytic infiltration also exhibited these findings. In LBC specimens, swollen naked nuclei with less punctate chromatin patterns and thin nuclear margins were observed in 92.1% of lymphoma and 20.5% of prominent nonneoplastic lymphocytic infiltration. Elongated nuclei were significantly more apparent in thyroid lymphoma than in prominent nonneoplastic lymphocytic infiltration (p < 0.001), with a significantly higher incidence in LBC specimens than in conventional specimens (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Lymphoglandular bodies are not reliable markers for lymphoma diagnosis using LBC specimens. Large, swollen naked, and elongated nuclei are useful in distinguishing thyroid lymphoma from nonneoplastic lymphocytes in LBC specimens.
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