Lambda light chain predominance as a sign of emerging lymphoma.
Immunohistologic methods can be used to help differentiate inflammatory from neoplastic lymphoid proliferations in extranodal sites. The majority of B-lymphocytes in an inflammatory process should show surface or cytoplasmic staining for kappa light chains, reflecting the normal human kappa:lambda ratio of approximately 2:1. If a benign-appearing lesion is found to contain predominantly lambda-positive cells, this may be a sign of an emerging lymphoma. The principle is illustrated by a case report of a lymphoid "pseudotumor" of the orbit that showed a polyclonal staining pattern with a predominance of lambda-positive cells and subsequently developed into a lymphoma-producing IgM lambda.
D000368:Aged; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000032:analysis*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000032:analysis; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / Q000032:analysis*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains