T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma in a pig.

A case of multicentric lymphoma with a mixed cell population of large to small round cells with the same nuclear features in a pig was studied immunohistochemically. Neoplastic tissues were composed of 20-50% B-cell lymphoma cells with lambda-type light chain restriction, and 50-80% cluster of differentiation (CD)3+ T-cells. These findings were similar to those of human T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma (TCRBCL). In addition, both immunoglobulin IgM and IgG were detected in the cytoplasm of the identical lymphoma cell. This pattern of heavy chain expression appeared to be due to maturational arrest in cellular development at the point of heavy chain class switching, as occurs in biclonal gammopathy in human lymphoid malignancy. This case as TCRBCL containing two types of heavy chains with light chain restriction (IgM-lambda and IgG-lambda) appears to be the first of its kind reported in the English literature for either pigs or domestic animals.