Alavaikko M J, Hansmann M L, Nebendahl C, Parwaresch M R, Lennert K
Department of Pathology, University of Kiel, Germany.
Am J Clin Pathol. 1991 Feb;95(2):194-200. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/95.2.194.
The distribution of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) was studied in 66 lymph nodes affected by Hodgkin's disease (HD) from as many patients with the use of the monoclonal antibody Ki-FDC1P, which stains FDCs in paraffin sections. Two distinct FDC patterns were distinguishable in the neoplastic areas: pattern A, showing FDC networks occupied by nongerminal center cells, often expanded and disrupted; and pattern B, with FDCs rare or lacking. Pattern A, with follicle-occupying cells represented by epithelioid and lymphocytic and histiocytic (L and H) cells, was found in about 90% of the cases of nodular lymphocyte predominance type and in about half of the cases of nodular sclerosis type, with the follicle-occupying cells being lacunar cells. In the group of mixed cellularity type, approximately one-fifth of the cases exhibited pattern A and in these cases the follicle-occupying cells were Sternberg-Reed, Hodgkin's, and epithelioid cells. The presence of follicular structures, although abnormal, is a more common occurrence in HD than is appreciable with the use of conventional histologic methods.
