Prognostic significance of mean cell volume in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

Cell volumes of neoplastic lymphocytes collected from lymph nodes of 53 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were compared to lymphocytes from 18 patients with reactive hyperplasia. The mean cell volume (MCV) and the modal volume (MV) of neoplastic lymphocytes were larger than the MCV and MV of lymphocytes from reactive hyperplasia. The cell volumes of neoplastic lymphocytes from patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were more heterogeneous within and among cases than observed in volumes from lymphocytes of patients with reactive hyperplasia. The cell volumes of neoplastic lymphocytes corresponded to subgroups within the Rappaport Classification and the Working Formulation. Cell volumes of neoplastic cells from low-grade lymphomas were smaller than intermediate grade lymphomas which in turn were smaller than high-grade lymphomas. When cases of NHL were placed into three subtypes based on the MCV, large cell lymphomas had a significantly shorter survival then small and intermediate cell lymphomas at 12 months. However, a stepwise multiple regression analysis failed to demonstrate any independent value of cell volume in the prediction of survival.