[Studies of immunoglobulin surface expression in lymphocytes of peripheral blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia].

The expression of surface immunoglobulins (SIg) on peripheral blood, bone marrow, and lymph node lymphocytes was studied in a group of 10 patients with B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. In 4 patients differences in the SIg phenotypes were found when cells from blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes were examined. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were characterized as a monoclonal B cell population whereas in the marrow or lymph node lymphocytes a tendency toward poly-clonality was found. We suggest that these differences reflect the origin of the initial leukaemic transformation: intra versus extra-medullar. In case of intramedullary origin of leukaemia the transformed clone infiltrates subsequently lymph nodes or other lymphoid structures. In leukaemia of extra-medullar origin the bone marrow is infiltrated later and therefore the tendency toward polyclonal SIg picture of the bone marrow lymphocytes contrasts with the monoclonality of the peripheral blood cells.