Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas of the Gastrointestinal Tract: An Evaluation of Paraffin Section Immunostaining

Abstract

Although the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common site of primary extranodal lymphomas, the lineage of these tumors has been controversial. The authors used paraffin-reactive antibodies detecting markers of B-, T-, histiocytic, and epithelial cells to study 34 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of the GI tract for which unequivocal frozen-section immunophenotypine was available as a control to determine whether these antibodies are reliable in the study of these tumors. Frozen-section studies revealed 31 tumors of B-cell origin and three T-cell tumors. Paraffin-reactive antibodies confirmed B-cell lineage in 28 of the 31 cases, with equivocal results in the remaining three. Only one of the T-cell lymphomas was identified in paraffin studies. Our results indicate that paraffin-reactive antibodies can reliably identify most B-cell lymphomas in the GI tract but may be unreliable in the detection of lymphomas of T-cell origin.

Analysis of immunoglobulin light-chain mRNA in gastric malignant lymphoma using new highly sensitive in situ hybridization method

“…Immunohistochemical study has been used to detect immunoglobulin light-chain restriction, which facilitates diagnosis because almost all primary malignant gastric lymphomas are of B-cell origin [5,7,10,16]. However, as cell membrane immunoglobulins can be optimally immunostained only in cryostat sections of fresh tissue, the advantages of using immunohistochemistry with routinely processed sections are limited.…”

Gastrointestinal lymphoma

“…Microscopic findings are those of a diffuse histiocytic non-Hodgkin's pattern in over half of the cases [5,23- bodies show that most of these tumors are of B cell lineage [27]. These processes destroy surface immunoglobulins and phenotypic characterization [ 141.…”