THE ABUNDANT PRESENCE OF SODERSTROM BODIES IN CYTOLOGY SMEARS OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATES CONTRIBUTES TO DISTINGUISHING HIGH-GRADE NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA FROM CARCINOMA AND SARCOMA

Soderstrom bodies, also termed lymphoglandular bodies (LGB) and detect able in fine-needle aspiration cytology smears, have long been accepte d as indicative of lymphoid tissues. To investigate the validity of th is association, we examined 588 cytologic smears from high-grade non-H odgkin's lymphoma (NHL), carcinoma, and sarcoma. Slides with lymphocyt es in the vicinity of carcinoma and sarcoma cells had been excluded. T wo independent observers scored smears to number, size, color, form, a nd smear background of the LGB. In 68 of 359 (19%) nonlymphoid maligna ncies rare (defined as <1 LGB per high-power field) or occasional LGB (defined as 1-20 LGB per high-power field) were detectable. Half of th ese tumors consisted of melanomas, small cell lung carcinomas, and ter atomas; the other half encompassed undifferentiated sarcomas. However, none of the smears obtained from carcinoma or sarcoma tissue had abun dant LGB (defined as >20 LGB per high-power field). When number of LGB was estimated to be abundant, the sensitivity for diagnosing a lympho ma was 54%; however, specificity was 100%. The difference in showing L GB between high-grade NHL and carcinoma/sarcoma was highly significant (p = 0.0001). The presence of abundant LGB in cytologic smears strong ly suggests the diagnosis of lymphoma, while the absence of LGB nearly excludes this diagnosis. No trends were observed with the other crite ria which were tested. LGB in aspiration cytology smears from malignan t tumors thus represent a useful tool to distinguish high-grade NHL fr om carcinoma and sarcoma.