1. Diagnostic utility of the lymphoid screening tube supplemented with TRBC1 for the assessment of T‐cell clonality.
- Author
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Blomme, S., Nollet, F., Boeckx, N., Cauwelier, B., Snauwaert, S., and Emmerechts, J.
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FLOW cytometry ,EARLY detection of cancer ,CELL receptors ,GENE expression ,CANCER patients ,HEMATOLOGIC malignancies ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE disorders ,T-cell lymphoma - Abstract
Introduction: Flow cytometric panels for the investigation of lymphoproliferative disorders, such as the EuroFlow Lymphoid Screening Tube (LST), often fail to demonstrate T‐cell clonality, as a suitable clonality marker was unavailable until recently. Aim of this study was to evaluate the added value of supplementing TRBC1, a flow cytometric T‐cell clonality marker, to the LST. Methods: Flow cytometric analysis was performed on 830 routine samples referred to our lab for suspicion of hematological malignancy. T‐cells with monotypic TRBC1‐expression were additionally characterized with a 12‐color T‐cell tube and molecular T‐cell receptor gamma gene rearrangement (TRG). Results: LST analysis revealed 97 (11.7%) samples with the presence of a monotypic T‐cell population according to TRBC1, including 21 (2.5%) "high‐count" (≥500 cells/μL blood or ≥15% of lymphocytes) and 76 (9.2%) "low‐count" (<500 cells/μL blood or <15% of lymphocytes) populations. Clinical symptoms indicative for T‐CLPD could be correlated to 11/21 "high‐count" and 17/76 "low‐count" monotypic T‐cell populations. Molecular TRG analysis demonstrated a monoclonal result in 76% (16/21) of "high‐count" samples and in 64% (42/66; 10 samples not tested) of "low‐count" samples, but also in 9/20 samples with polytypic TRBC1 results. Conclusion: Analysis of an LST tube supplemented with TRBC1 led to the detection of a high number of monotypic T‐cell populations. The detection of numerous small monotypic T‐cell populations raises the question of their clinical significance. A possible flowchart for assessment of these populations, based on the available literature, is proposed. Molecular TRG analysis is complementary and cannot be omitted from T‐cell clonality assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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