title: Functional heterogeneity and pathogenic significance of interleukin-6 in B-cell lymphomas.
abstract: A possible autocrine effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the growth and differentiation of the tumor cells of 55 B-cell lymphomas was examined. Interleukin-6 was detected in a few types of B-cell lymphomas, including polymorphic immunocytoma (PI), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and immunoblastic lymphoma (IBL) with or without plasmacytoid differentiation. In PI and in IBL with plasmacytoid differentiation (IBL-P), IL-6 was detected only in immunoglobulin-containing plasmacytoid cells, and it was absent from most proliferating (Ki-67/PCNA-positive) lymphoma cells. In SLL, IL-6 was not observed in lymphoplasmacytoid cells; instead, IL-6 was observed in transformed (Ki-67/PCNA-positive) tumor cells in proliferation centers. The lymphoplasmacytoid cells in SLL exhibited a phenotype (IL-6/glutathione-S-transferase-pi [GST-pi]-negative), different from that of normal plasma cells (IL-6-negative/GST-pi-positive) and from the plasmacytoid cells (IL-6/GST-pi-positive) in PI and IBL-P. In IBL without obvious plasmacytoid differentiation, IL-6 was detected in most tumor cells that were highly proliferative (Ki-67/PCNA-positive). In this study, IL-6 was undetectable in most lymphomas related to follicular centers, in lymphoblastic lymphoma, in small noncleaved cell lymphomas of the Burkitt and non-Burkitt types, and in diffuse large cell lymphoma. This finding is compatible with a previous finding that IL-6 mRNA was absent from follicular center cells in reactive lymphoid tissues. The functions of IL-6 in these lymphomas may be quite diverse. It appears that IL-6, as an autocrine factor, is responsible for the plasmacytoid differentiation of lymphoma cells in IP and some IBL (IBL-P). The differentiation of lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma cells in SLL, however, may not be mediated by an autocrine IL-6 mechanism. Interleukin-6 may provide a growth signal, rather than acting as a differentiation factor, for some IBL cells and for some transformed tumor cells in proliferation centers in SLL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Waldron
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016400:Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Immunoblastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6