title: Multiparameter Flow Cytometry to Detect Hematogones and to Assess B-lymphocyte clonality in Bone Marrow Samples from Patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas.
abstract: Hematogones are precursors of B-lymphocytes detected in small numbers in the bone marrow. Flow cytometry is the most useful tool to identify hematogones and, so far, 4-color methods have been published. In addition, flow cytometry is used in the diagnosis and follow-up of lymphomas. We developed a flow cytometric 7-color method to enumerate hematogones and to assess B-lymphocyte clonality for routine purposes. We evaluated 171 cases of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, either at diagnosis or in the course of follow-up. By our diagnostic method, which was carried out by the combination K/λ/CD20/CD19/CD10/CD45/CD5, we were able to detect hematogones in 97.6% of samples and to distinguish normal B-lymphocytes, neoplastic lymphocytes and hematogones in a single step. The percentage of hematogones showed a significant inverse correlation with the degree of neoplastic infiltration and, when bone marrow samples not involved by disease were taken into consideration, resulted higher in patients during follow-up than in patients evaluated at diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carulli
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ottaviano
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guerri
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giuntini
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sammuri
authors.affiliation: Second Division of Pathology, Pisa University Hospital , Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ciancia
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Santa Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azzarà
keywords: B-lymphocytes; bone marrow; hematogones; multiparameter flow cytometry; non-Hodgkin lymphomas