Acid phosphatase and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase in neoplastic and non-neoplastic lymphocytes. A statistical analysis.

Acid phosphatase and alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase reaction patterns were evaluated in lymphocytes from patients with a variety of neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions: leukemia, 59; NHL, 53; and reactive follicular hyperplasia, 23. Fifteen individuals with normal peripheral blood were also studied. For both enzymes, statistical analysis showed a strong correlation between a globular reaction pattern and T lymphocytic origin in both non-neoplastic lymph nodes and normal peripheral blood specimens (P less than 0.0001). A similarly strong correlation was found between a granular acid phosphatase pattern and T lymphocytic origin in cell isolated from non-neoplastic lymph nodes (P less than 0.0001) but not in those obtained from normal peripheral blood where this pattern was observed with equal frequency in B, T, and "null" lymphocytes (P = 0.415). A granular alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase pattern was correlated with non-T lymphocytes from normal peripheral blood (P less than 0.0001), but was observed with equal frequency in B, T, and "null" lymphocytes fron non-neoplastic lymph nodes (P = 0.76). In the eight T cell neoplasias studied, a globular pattern was evident in the majority of cells for both enzymes. In the majority of the B cell neoplasias, however, a granular pattern was observed for both enzymes.