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Background/Aims: Paediatric primary follicular lymphoma of the testis (PPFLT) is exceptional: the few reported cases seem to lack BCL-2 gene rearrangement and/or protein expression. The aim of this study was [...]

Despite its well known histological and clinical features, Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) has recently been the object of intense research activity, leading to a better understanding of its phenotype, molecular characteristics, [...]

Immunohistochemical staining with anti-bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) monoclonal antibody was performed on a variety of human tissues following in vitro incubation with BrdU. The effect of different fixatives and DNA denaturation techniques on the reactivity with anti-BrdU was investigated. Optimal preservation of the antigenicity of BrdU incorporated into the DNA of proliferating cells was seen in tissues fixed in Bouin's fluid, while samples which had been fixed with cross-linking reagents, such as formalin, were usually unreactive. Positivity for BrdU was restored in formalin fixed tissues after digestion with pepsin, but this was usually associated with loss of morphological details. Acid and thermal DNA denaturation techniques gave similar results. It is concluded that Bouin fixation followed by acid or thermal denaturation of DNA is the method of choice for the in situ detection of cells in S-phase using anti-BrdU monoclonal antibody. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The arrangement of the T cell receptor and immunoglobulin genes was analysed in lymphoid tissue biopsy specimens from 25 cases of angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy. Nineteen cases showed a rearrangement of the gene coding for the beta chain of the T cell receptor, and in one case a clonal rearrangement of immunoglobulin genes was shown (in which the T cell receptor gene was in a germline configuration). These findings indicate that a monoclonal T cell proliferation is present in most cases of angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy, and they also correlate with the fact that some patients who present with this disorder subsequently develop a T cell lymphoma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: In anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), the site of origin has been described as an important prognostic factor. Recently, a fusion protein containing anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) was described in systemic nodal ALCL, and shown to be associated with a good prognosis. The aims of this study were to investigate whether the presence of ALK protein differs between ALCL of different sites of origin; to determine whether ALK expression occurs before dissemination to other sites; and, finally, to investigate whether the site of origin remains a prognostic parameter in ALK negative ALCL., Methods: ALK expression, as detected by immunohistochemistry using the monoclonal antibodies ALK1 and ALKc, was studied in 85 ALCLs from different sites of origin. In 22 patients, ALK expression was studied in multiple biopsies from different sites (including 13 skin, 16 lymph node, and nine other). Overall survival time was analysed using the Kaplan Meier method., Results: ALK expression was found in 20 of 51 systemic ALCLs with (primary) nodal involvement. No ALK expression was found in 15 primary cutaneous, 14 gastrointestinal, and five nasal ALCLs. Multiple and subsequent biopsies of patients showed ALK expression to be identical to that seen in the primary diagnostic biopsy. Kaplan Meier survival curves showed that in ALK negative ALCLs originating from different sites, primary cutaneous cases are associated with an excellent overall survival, whereas the other cases show a comparable five years survival of less than 40%., Conclusions: If present, ALK expression favours systemic ALCL with (primary) nodal involvement, and can be used in differentiating between extranodal involvement of systemic (nodal) ALCL and primary extranodal ALCL. ALK is expressed consistently in multiple biopsies of a given patient, indicating that the chromosomal abnormality leading to aberrant ALK expression occurs before dissemination to other sites. Finally, in ALK negative non-cutaneous ALCLs, different sites of origin show comparable poor survival.