Surface membrane phenotypic expression and treatment response of malignant lymphomas.

Cryopreserved lymphoid tissue has been used from 113 patients for an analysis of cell surface membrane phenotypes using a panel of monoclonal antibodies. Dual heavy chain expression was common in many B-cell malignant lymphomas and in the B-cell lymphomas as a whole there was a predominance of lambda light chains. The expression of lambda light chain was associated with a poorer response to treatment and there was a tendency for such tumours to fall into the high grade lymphoma category. Surface membrane heavy chain expression, as assessed by staining intensity, was greatest in the lymphomas composed mostly of centrocytes and IgD expression was reduced in high grade lymphomas. The ratio of helper to suppressor T-cells was reduced in centroblastic and immunoblastic lymphomas. In Hodgkin's disease a predominance of T-cells was found in most instances although the series included a large proportion of nodular sclerosis cases.