Large-cell intestinal lymphoma occurring in coeliac disease: morphological and immunohistochemical features

Histological material was studied in five unselected cases of intestinal large-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, occurring in patients either with previously diagnosed coeliac disease, or with atrophic mucosa at the time of diagnosis. The morphological diagnosis in each case was centroblastic lymphoma: these tumours were composed of large cells with pale nuclei and prominent nucleoli. No phagocytosis was evident, but some cells showed considerable pleomorphism. Polykaryotic giant cells were infrequent. Immunohistochemical staining for lysozyme, alpha-1-anti-trypsin and alpha-1-anti-chymotrypsin failed to demonstrate any of these proteins in the tumour cells, although they were identified in accompanying reactive macrophages. There is thus no evidence for a histiocytic nature in these five cases. The tumours were immunoglobulin-negative. Again, polyclonal immunoglobulin could be demonstrated in reactive (plasma) cells in and near the tumour. The relevance of these immunological markers is discussed. We suggest that these tumours, and possibly some of those reported in a similar situation by other investigators, are in fact lymphocytic in origin. They are probably examples of centroblastic lymphoma, although T-cell lymphoma, rare in the gastrointestinal tract, cannot be ruled out by our immunohistological studies.