Phenotypic heterogeneity of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

The peripheral blood lymphocytes from 39 patients from the Latvian S.S.R.T., U.S.S.R. with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) have been phenotyped with various monoclonal antibodies representing the major clusters of differentiation (CD) used for phenotyping B cells. A clear delineation of two groups of patients was evidenced. The major group (33/39) possessed leukaemic cells bearing surface immunoglobulins (SIg) at a low density, Class II HLA, and CD5, CD24 and CD37 molecules but not CD21, CD22 and CD35. CD23 antigen was seen only once under microscope examination, but could be visualized by flow cytometry. CD6 antibody reacted with cells from about 1/3 of this group of patients. In the six patients of the second group the leukaemic phenotype was SIg+, Class II HLA+, CD5+, 24+, 37+, 21+, 22+, 35+, 23+ and 6-. The main finding is the concomitant expression of CD22, CD21 (CR2) and CD35 (CR1) molecules, all involved in B cell activation. It is not yet known whether these observations correlate with different clinical evolutions of the disease.