Comparison of histologic and immunologic heterogeneity of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

The lymphocyte surface marker phenotype in 11 selected cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas was determined with anti-immunoglobulin and mouse monoclonal antibodies against human lymphocyte antigens. A complement-mediated cell cytotoxicity assay on suspensions of the tumor cells was compared with an indirect immunoperoxidase technique on frozen tissue sections. Both methods gave good results in tumors with a uniform cell population, but the frozen section technique was superior in heterogeneous tumors. The six B-cell neoplasms were heterogeneous with respect to expression of surface immunoglobulin and Ia antigens. The five T-cell tumors were morphologically heterogeneous and also highly variable in their expression of different T-cell specific antigens.