Genotypic analysis of large cell lymphomas which express the Ki-1 antigen.

The monoclonal antibody Ki-1 reacts with Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin's disease and with the tumour cells in a minority of large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. This study describes the results of immunophenotypic and DNA analysis in 30 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, all of which expressed the Ki-1 antigen. The genotypic analysis has been undertaken using both immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene probes. Sixteen cases were shown by this method to be of monoclonal T-cell origin, six of B-cell origin, while in eight cases there was no evidence of either T- or B-cell lineage. This confirms previous immunohistological data indicating that non-Hodgkin's lymphomas which express the Ki-1 antigen may be of either T-cell or B-cell origin.