Stable E rosette-forming lymphocytes in the peripheral blood in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The peripheral blood of 49 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the same number of normal controls was examined for the presence of lymphocytes forming rosettes with sheep erythrocytes at 37 degrees C (stable E rosettes). Nineteen lymphoma patients but only five normal controls showed increased absolute levels. (P less than 0.01). There was no correlation between the occurrence of increased Stable E Rosette levels and the histological type of lymphoma but there appears to be a positive relationship with the presence of clinical stage III-IV disease at presentation (P = 0.011). It is suggested that stable E rosettes represent an immunological response to residual lymphoma in our patients. A longitudinal study in one patient is reported in detail to demonstrate the occurrence of fluctuations in stable E rosette levels coinciding with clinical changes.