Lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens and quantitation of T and B lymphocytes in canine malignant lymphoma

Two canine malignant lymphoma cases were studied, one from the time of detection of enlarged palpable lymph nodes through the terminal stage and another at the terminal stage. Hematologic and histopathologic studies were confirmative of leukemia. The lymphocyte subpopulations, T and B cells, were quantitated as identified by the presence or absence of surface immunoglobulin and erythrocyte-antibody-complement-rosette formation. The average number of B cells in the peripheral blood lymphocytes throughout the study were approximately 80%. The B cells in the lymph node lymphocytes were 82%. There was considerable fluctuation in the number of blood lymphocytes, but the percentage of T and B lymphocytes remained nearly constant. There was marked impairment in the lymphocytic response to mitogens. The results of this study indicate that the canine malignant lymphoma is predominantly a B-lymphocyte type.