title: Assessment of bone marrow involvement in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: comparison between histology and flow cytometry.
abstract: Bone marrow (BM) examination is essential in the staging of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients. Few studies have compared BM histologic findings with results of flow cytometric (FC) analysis. We analyzed the incidence and patterns of histologic BM involvement in a series of 753 patients with NHL. For 498 patients, a concurrent FC analysis on BM was available. Histologic involvement was detected at diagnosis in 311/753 (41%) patients. By FC, BM involvement was clearly detected in 150/498 (30%). After excluding 12 cases with equivocal histology, concordance between the two methods was detected in 411 (85%) cases (27% BMB+/FC+; 58% BMB-/FC-), while discordance was present in 75 (15%) (P < 0.001): 58 cases (12%) were BMB+/FC- and 17 (3%) were BMB-/FC+. Discordance was more frequent in FL and in lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL). These data demonstrate that the two methods are comparable in qualitative assessment of BM involvement in NHL, with the exception of FL and LPL. In FL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and LPL, FC underestimates the extent of infiltrate with respect to histology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncohematology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, University of Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Merli
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arcaini
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boveri
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rattotti
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Picone
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Passamonti
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tenore
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sozzani
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lucioni
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varettoni
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rizzi
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Morello
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pascutto
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paulli
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazzarino
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination / Q000379:methods*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006652:Histological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D008258:Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia