COMBINATION OF HODGKINS-DISEASE AND DIFFUSE LARGE-CELL LYMPHOMA - AN IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION STUDY FOR IMMUNOGLOBULIN LIGHT-CHAIN MESSENGER-RNA

It is not clear whether the rare combination of Hodgkin's disease with non-Hodgkin lymphomas are true composite lymphomas or differentiation stages of one tumour cell clone, We used in situ hybridization and im munohistochemistry for the demonstration of immunoglobulin light chain s in order to investigate thp relationship between the two lymphoma co mponents, In three cases of nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's disease combined with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma the Hodgkin cells, as well as the tumour cells in the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, sho wed the same messenger RNA for one light chain, Thus, using in situ hy bridization in nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's disease combi ned with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in a small number of cases a po ssible genetic relationship between the two components could be shown. In nodular sclerosis combined with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, in situ hybridization did not support a common clonal origin of both tumo ur parts. However, a unique clonal derivation cannot be excluded by th e techniques applied.