Expression of the bcl-2 gene product in follicular lymphoma.

Expression of bcl-2 protein was analyzed in 140 cases of follicular lymphoma by immunohistologic staining of paraffin-embedded tissue; 85% of cases were positive, the frequency being related to histologic grade (100% for the small-cleaved cell type, 86% for the mixed cell type, and 76% for the large cell group). There was striking heterogeneity of bcl-2 content in a number of cases and the smaller neoplastic cells (i.e., centrocytes) were usually the most strongly labeled. In most cases, bcl-2 protein staining was much weaker in normal lymphoid cells than in the neoplastic cells. In several cases, staining for bcl-2 revealed patterns of neoplastic cell spread into adjacent tissue (e.g., normal follicles, lymphoid sinuses), and bcl-2 protein expression tended to be highest in these migratory cells.