Thymidine kinase isoenzymes in human malignant lymphoma.

The activities of thymidine kinase (TK) isoenzyme 1 and 2 were examined in extracts of human benign or malignant lymphoid tissue and correlated with degrees of morphological differentiation. TK2 activity occurred in peripheral blood lymphocytes of normal individuals, patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or solid lymphoid tissue, exhibiting either nonneoplastic histological findings or those of diffuse well-differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma. TK1 activity occurred in solid, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma tissue, exhibiting lesser degrees of cellular differentiation, or in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with clinical aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia or lymphosarcoma leukemia. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma tissue, the range of TK1 activities correlated broadly with the Rappaport classification, with higher values occurring in tissue exhibiting changes of diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma or diffuse histiocytic lymphoma.