Detection of immunoglobulin light-chain restriction in cutaneous B-cell lymphomas by ultrasensitive bright-field mRNA in situ hybridization.

BACKGROUND

Detection of immunoglobulin light-chain restriction is important in the diagnosis of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). Flow-cytometry, commonly used to evaluate light-chain restriction, is impractical to be used in cutaneous specimens. Immunohistochemical and conventional chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) methods on formalin-fixed-paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue lack sufficient sensitivity to detect low-level light-chain expression in B-NHL without plasmacytic differentiation. Ultrasensitive bright-field mRNA-ISH (BRISH) for in situ light-chain detection in cutaneous B-NHL has been assessed.

DESIGN

Kappa/lambda mRNA was detected using two-color BRISH (RNAscope 2xPlex, Advanced Cell Diagnostics) on 27 FFPE skin biopsies and excisions from patients with available B-cell PCR clonality studies: 16 clonal B-cell lesions (6 follicle center lymphoma, 5 marginal zone lymphoma, 3 large B-cell lymphoma, and 2 other) and 11 non-clonal B-cell proliferations.

RESULTS

BRISH was successful in 15/16 clonal B-cell lesions and 11/11 non-clonal proliferations. Light-chain restriction was detected in 15/15 clonal lesions and in 1/11 non-clonal proliferations (96.1% overall concordance with clonality PCR). In 4/5 marginal zone lymphomas, light-chain restriction was detected as strong monotypic mRNA expression in a B-cell subset, consistent with plasmacytic differentiation.

CONCLUSION

Ultrasensitive BRISH can successfully detect light-chain restriction in B-NHL from FFPE skin specimens and may be a useful adjunct ancillary tool in cases not resolved by CISH or immunohistochemical methods.