Phorbol myristate acetate induced colony growth in Hodgkin's disease.

Discrete pleomorphic colonies were cultured from a lymph node of a patient with Hodgkin's disease using phorbol myristate acetate in semi-solid media. A mean of 216 colonies were counted after 10 days incubation. No colonies were noted after similar incubation with pokeweed mitogen or lymphocyte conditioned medium. A gradation in morphology from small lymphoid cells to giant multinucleated cells was noted. The majority (80%) of the cultured cells bore T lymphoid surface markers. The use of phorbol myristate acetate as a stimulant for colony growth of cells from the lymph nodes of Hodgkin's disease patients would appear to be of value.