Key Points
• Conclusion/Relevance: “Aberrant expression of CD54 on lymphoma cells is frequently seen in patients’ BM specimens involved by DLBCL, especially in the non-GCB subtype. CD54 could be used as a new marker to gate on lymphoma cells and improve the detection sensitivity of BM involvement in patients with DLBCL.”
• In the current study, researchers collected bone marrow [BM} specimens from 76 patients with DLBCL (germinal center B-cell (GCB) = 25; non-GCB = 51), as well as 10 control patients without lymphoma. They then compared the expression of CD54 on lymphoma cells and normal mature B cells via 10-color panels.
• The researchers elucidated that that normal hematogones and mature B cells expressed diminished levels of of CD54, whereas DLBCL lymphoma cells from 52% of BM specimens expressed high levels of CD54. They suggested that abnormal expression of CD54 on lymphoma cells frequently occurs in DLBCL patients with BM involvement.
• “In patients with the GCB subtype, CD10 is routinely used to gate on lymphoma cells. However, there is no such marker in the non-GCB subtype. Our research shows that lymphoma cells from around 70% of BMs involved by non-GCB DLBCL abnormally expressed a high level of CD54. Therefore, CD54 is especially useful to detect lymphoma cells in patients with the non-GCB subtype and might be used as a backbone marker to gate on lymphoma cells,” wrote the authors.