Correlation between tumor proliferation and serum levels of beta 2-microglobulin and thymidine kinase in malignant lymphomas.

We have studied the serum beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) and thymidine kinase (TK) levels in 19 newly diagnosed lymphoma patients. The proportion of the S-phase cells (SPF) was determined by flow cytometry from subsequently taken tumor biopsy material. A positive correlation between SPF and TK (r = 0.4, P = 0.1), but not between SPF and beta 2m, was seen in the whole material. Sixty-three percent of the high-grade malignancy non-Hodgkin lymphomas (5/8) showed high proliferative activity in both the SPF and TK analyses. Furthermore, high tumor SPF and enhanced serum TK levels reflected equally well and consistently the clinical outcome of the underlying disease.