RE: bone marrow phenotyping

Wood,Brent (wood@mail.labmed.washington.edu)
17 Dec 1996 18:15:25 U

>Can anyone explain a CD3+CD8+ phenotype on CD20 positive gated cells in a
>patient with a h/o lymphoma?

We have seen a rare example of a T cell malignancy expressing CD20. In
particular, one well documented case of mycosis fungoides demonstrated CD20
expression in addition to the typical CD3+, CD4+, CD7- immunophenotype on a
marrow aspirate. This was confirmed by immunocytochemistry on the biopsy.
Other rare cases have been reported in the literature. As expected, it is
best not to rely on a single immunophenotypic marker to define the lineage of
a neoplastic cell.

Brent Wood MD PhD
Univeristy of Washington
Hematopathology Laboratory