The ultrastructural identification of tissue basophils and mast cells in Hodgkin's disease.

Numerous basophils were identified ultrastructurally in a tumorous lymph node from one of 10 patients with Hodgkin's disease. The tissue basophils displayed the same morphologic characteristics as peripheral blood basophils and differed ultrastructurally from mast cells in the same specimen. Large numbers of mast cells were occasionally seen in tumor tissue of patients with Hodgkin's disease. Many of the mast cells in Hodgkin's tumor revealed structural alteration of granules as well as evidence of degranulation when compared with mast cells in tumor-free lymph nodes of patients with Hodgkin's disease. These results indicate that basophils and mast cells may play a role in the inflammatory response in Hodgkin's disease.