[Usefulness of biologic tests in malignant hemopathies]

In the haematological malignant diseases, especially Hodgkin's disease and other lymphomas, many of the disturbed biological tests reflect the inflammatory process and therefore lack any specificity. Of particular interest are blood sedimentation, the protein-C-reactive test, serum iron, transferrin, serum copper and ferritin. Other tests such as lactic dehydrogenase and beta 2-microglobulin appear to be in the nature of "markers". In 118 patients, serum levels of beta 2-microglobulin above 2.50 mg/l were observed in 83% of the lymphoproliferative disorders and also in 16% of patients without malignant diseases. However, the highest values (greater than 5.00 mg/l) were observed only in 12 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders and 1 patient with "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome".