Clonal gene rearrangement patterns correlate with immunophenotype and clinical parameters in patients with angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

T cell receptor beta (TcR beta) chain gene rearrangements have been reported in cases of angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AILD) and provided evidence for the presence of clonal T cell proliferations in this disorder. Twenty-three cases of AILD and two cases of hyperimmune reaction (HR) were investigated. In the two HR cases, essentially the same histologic pattern was present as in AILD but lymph node follicles were hyperplastic. Both HR cases showed germline configuration for the TcR and immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) genes. All other patients diagnosed with AILD had clonal rearrangements for TcR gamma and beta chain genes. In addition, seven out of these cases had clonally rearranged their IgH genes. These two different rearrangement patterns (TcR with or without Ig gene rearrangement) correlated to immunohistochemical and clinical data. Cases with TcR but without Ig gene rearrangements (group I) exclusively showed CD4+ proliferating T cells, whereas those cases with TcR and Ig gene rearrangements had significantly elevated numbers of CD8+ proliferating cells (group II). Group II patients significantly more often presented with hemolytic anemia and went into transient remission spontaneously or under steroid treatment. Group I patients, however, had a higher response to chemotherapy and a longer survival time. These data show that, based on different rearrangement patterns, it is possible to divide AILD into two different groups with distinct immunophenotypic properties and differences in clinical parameters. Immunogenotyping in AILD thus will have prognostic and therapeutic implications.