title: The immunophenotype of T-lymphoblastic lymphoma in children and adolescents: a Children's Oncology Group report.
abstract: T-lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) and T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) are neoplasms derived from immature lymphoid cells of T-cell lineage. These neoplasms are biologically similar, but significant differences may exist between the two given their clinical differences. Although ample data regarding the immunophenotypic characterization T-ALL are available, there is a paucity of such data in children and adolescents with T-LBL. We used flow cytometry and/or immunohistochemistry to characterize the immunophenotypic profile of 180 children and adolescents with newly diagnosed T-LBL enrolled in the Children's Oncology Group 5971 study. Multiple T-cell, B-cell, myeloid, and other markers were evaluated. We identified diagnostically useful immunophenotypic features of T-LBL as well as distinct immunophenotypic subgroups, although none of these was statistically related to event-free or overall survival in this retrospective analysis. Further studies of biologically and immunophenotypically distinct subgroups of T-LBL, such as the early T-cell precursor phenotype, are warranted.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary and Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Jay L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Lynette M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Minnie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abromowitch
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Campana
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lones
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Mitchell S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cairo
authors.forename: Sherrie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Perkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D054504:Precursor Cells, T-Lymphoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies