Cytotoxic T lymphocyte recognition of non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphomas

Low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

Coexistence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (LGNHL) has been described occasionally in the literature with the potential pathogenetic role of monoclonal B CD5+/CD19+ cells. We report a case of LGNHL which developed 18 months after diagnosis of SLE. The monoclonal population of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and bone marrow was CD5/CD19 negative but CD19/CD22 positive. The SLE responded well to treatment with prednisone and the course of the LGNHL was stable and cytotoxic treatment was not required.

Circulating and tumor-infiltrating gamma delta T Cells in patients with B-cell lymphomas

In order to analyze the involvement of gamma delta T cells in the immune surveillance against B cell lymphomas (BCL), we investigated the proportion of circulating gamma delta T cells in 52 BCL patients using two-color flow cytometry, together with tumor-infiltrating gamma delta T cells in 22 of those patients. We found that the proportion of tumor-infiltrating gamma delta T cells in BCL patients was not different from that of lymph node gamma delta T cells in reactive hyperplasia patients. However, a decreased percentage of circulating gamma delta T cells were observed in indolent lymphoma (IL) and limited aggressive lymphoma (AL) patients when compared with normal controls. In contrast, as a result of a histogram, advanced AL patients were divided into two subgroups: the patients with increased circulating gamma delta T cells and those without any increase. However, there was no difference in the clinical features of between the two AL subgroups.