Prognostic significance of lymphocyte surface markers in adult non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma.

Neoplastic tissues from 75 adults with non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma were examined for B and T lymphocyte surface markers. All nodular lymphomas were B-cell type. Of 40 diffuse lymphomas, 23 were B, 5 were T, and 12 were "null" type. Patients with nodular lymphoma survived significantly longer than those with diffuse lymphoma (P = 0-00003). For patients with diffuse lymphoma, however, surface markers provide prognostic information not obtainable by histological classification as "poorly differentiated lymphocytic" or "histiocytic". Patients whose malignant cells had B markers survived significantly longer than those whose malignant cells had no markers (P=O-008). Survival of patients with diffuse lymphoma was best predicted by a classification utilising both surface markers and histological appearances. Differences in survival among patients with B-cell and "null" or T-cell lymphomas may relfect differences in sensitivity to specific drugs.