Transferrin receptor and B-lymphoblast antigen--their relationship to DNA synthesis, histology and survival in B-cell lymphomas.

The reactivity of two monoclonal antibodies identifying antigens related to B-cell activation, B3/25 (the transferrin receptor) and BB-I (the B-lymphoblast-I-antigen), was examined on cell suspensions from 75 cases of monoclonal B-cell lymphomas. The expression of B3/25 antigen was correlated to DNA synthesis as measured by spontaneous 3H-thymidine incorporation (p = 0.0003) and histopathologically high-grade malignancy (p = 0.00003). Furthermore, B3/25 expression was associated with survival since the patients with B3/25-negative tumors survived longer than those with B3/25-positive tumors (p = 0.018). B3/25 expression also defined a larger group of patients with shorter survival than did histopathology alone, 28 cases versus 16 cases, respectively. On the other hand, the BB-I antigen did not reveal an association with DNA synthesis, high-grade malignancy or survival. However, the findings indicated that BB-I may be related to B-cell maturation/differentiation.