Transferrin receptor and B-lymphoblast antigen — their relationship to DNA synthesis, histology and survival in B-cell lymphomas

Abstract

The reactivity of two monoclonal antibodies indentifying antigens related to B‐cell activation, B3/25 (the transferrin receptor) and BB‐1 (the B‐lymphoblast‐1‐antigen), was examined on cell suspensions from 75 cases of monoclonal B‐cell lymphomas. The expression of B3/25 antigen was correlated to DNA synthesis as measured by spontaneous ³H‐thymidine incorporation (p= 0.0003) and histopathologically high‐grade malignancy (p= 0.00003). Furthermore, B3/25 expression was associated with survival since the patients with B3/25‐negative tumors survived longer than those with B3/25‐positive tumors (p= 0.018). B3/25 expression also defined a larger group of patients with shorter survival than did histopathology alone, 28 cases versus 16 cases, respectively. On the other hand, the BB‐1 antigen did not reveal an association with DNA synthesis, high‐grade malignancy or survival. However, the findings indicated that BB‐1 may be related to B‐cell maturation/differentiation.