[Biology of secondary nodal follicular b-lymphomas. A patho-dynamic study]

To assess the aggressivity factors and tumour prognosis in a series of non-Hodgkin lymphomas by the use of computer-quantified specific antibodies and flow cytometry.

Sixty-one cases of follicular B-cell lymphoma: 34 of the germinal centre (24 centroblastic-centrocytic, CB-CC, and 10 centroblastic, CC) and 27 of the follicular cortex (FCL), were studied. All the cases had been diagnosed between 1971 and 1992 at the Pathology Department of the Fundación Jiménez Díaz. Morphologic and immunophenotype diagnosis was made on each case. Tumour proliferation studies were performed after labelling nuclei with proliferent nucleic acid-associated protein (PC 10); the positive nuclear areas were later quantified in a CAS-200 image analyser by means of proliferation programmes (PI) and nuclear receptors (ER). A flow cytometry study of ploidy was carried out on each case. The values attained were correlated with survival in months. The Wilcoxon's test for independent variables was used for the statistical study.

The PI programme showed lowest proliferation for FCL (7.4%) followed by intermediate proliferation in CB-CC (16.9%) and high proliferation in CB (31.7%). The PC-10 results attained with both PI and ER programmes showed statistically significant correlation (p < 0.01). The correlation between ploidy, as quantified by flow cytometry, and survival showed statistically significant differences between diploid and aneuploid cases (p < 0.01); similar findings apply for diploids and diploids with high synthesis phase (p < 0.01).

These findings support the usefulness of cell kinetics studies in lymphoma, and contribute to validate different evolutive patterns in accordance with the histologic subtype.