Monoclonal antibody HML-1 reactivity with adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma and other lymphomas.
Human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1), a causative virus of adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL), is known to be transmitted by breast-feeding. Using a monoclonal antibody HML-1 which labels human intestinal intra-epithelial T lymphocytes, we have immunohistochemically examined ATLL tissues in order to evaluate the possibility that HTLV-1 infected intestinal T cells are the origin of ATLL cells. Previously this antibody was reported to react with intestinal T-cell malignant lymphomas but not with peripheral tumours, or any B-cell lymphomas. We investigated 181 patients with malignant lymphomas and found that 19 out of 113 ATLLs were positive for HML-1. T-cell malignant lymphomas excluding ATLL also reacted with HML-1 (7/24), but all the B-cell lymphomas 0/33) and non-neoplastic lymph node and skin lesions (0/10) were negative for HML-1. In patients with ATLL and other T-cell malignant lymphomas, the positivity level of HML-1 was relatively higher in stomach (3/7) and tonsil (2/6) than that in lymph nodes (15/100) and skin (8/47). We observed one HML-1 positive ATLL patient with tumour formation in the skin and lymphadenopathy and marked infiltration of the large intestine but minimal involvement of other organs. Although HML-1 was frequently expressed in gastric infiltration of ATLL, the level of positivity was too low in lymph nodes to support the hypothesis that HTLV-1 infected intestinal T cells are the origin of ATLL cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Kitajima
S
S
Department of Pathology, Kagoshima University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Tokunaga
M
M
Goto
M
M
Sato
E
E
Utsunomiya
A
A
Ohtsuka
M
M
Hanada
S
S
Arima
T
T
D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal