INTESTINAL T-CELL LYMPHOMA WITH MASSIVE TISSUE AND BLOOD EOSINOPHILIAMEDIATED BY IL-5

A case of enteropathy associated of T-celll lymphoma (EATCL) in a 62-y ear-old female with a previous history of coeliac disease, complicated during the clinical course by massive blood and tissue eosinophilia i s described. The patient's serum contained a factor capable of stimula ting the in vitro growth of eosinophilic colonies (CFU-Eo), that was a bsent in the serum of normal donors. We suggest that such factor was I nterleukin-5 (IL-5), as indicated by the presence in the monoclonal tu mor T cells of IL-5 encoding mRNA, usually absent in the normal entero cytes of the jejunum.