Description of the cells from the lymph nodes of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma according to some B- and T-cell characteristics.

The lymph node cell populations from 24 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were investigated for some of the surface characteristics which are used as T- and B-lymphocyte markers. Nineteen of the patients had had no treatment of any kind while the other 5 had had either recent radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Seven lymph nodes from patients without malignant disease and 7 others with reactive changes were also studied. It was found that lymphocytic lymphomas, nodular or diffuse, well or poorly differentiated, had a high proportion of cells which were positive for B-cell markers. Other non-lymphocytic lymphomas had a higher proportion of cells positive for T-cell markers, and were similar to the cells from non-malignant lymph nodes.