CLONAL ORIGIN OF A T-CELL LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE MALIGNANCY

Abstract

A woman with a T [thymus-derived] cell lymphoproliferative malignancy and heterozygosity at the X chromosome-linked locus for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) isoenzymes was studied to find the clonal origin of her circulating neoplastic T cells. Red blood cells, polymorphonuclear cells, whole mononuclear cells and T cell-depleted mononuclear cells contained A and B isoenzymes of G-6-PD. Tumor cells, separated by using their capacity to form rosettes with sheep red blood cells, contained only the B isoenzyme of G-6-PD. This observation suggests the monoclonality of this T cell malignancy.