Expression of T-cell-associated antigens in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

We performed the immunophenotyping of 101 patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin' s lymphoma (B-NHL) using two-colour flow cytometry (FCM) and found that lym phoma cells coexpressed at least one kind of T-cell-associated antigen (T-A g: CD2, CD5, CD7) in 25 patients (24.8%). Among these three T-Ags, CD5 was the most frequently expressed, in 21 patients (20.8%), followed by CD7, exp ressed in five patients (50%), and CD2, which was expressed in two patients (2.0%). Two kinds of T-Ag were simultaneusly expressed in three patients ( CD2/CD5, CD2/ CD7, and CD5/CD7, each expressed in one patient). Concerning the expression pattern of T-Ag, there were no significant differences betwe en lymph nodes and extranodal organs in the three patients with T-Ag-positi ve B-NHL (T-Ag(+) B-NHL) who were analysed, When comparing the clinical fea tures between T-Ag(+) B-NHL and T-Ag-negative B-NHL (T-Ag(-) B-NHL), extran odal involvement and higher International Prognostic Index (H and H.I.) wer e significantly frequent in the former subgroup (P = 0.0119 and P = 0.0302 respectively).