Monoclonal antibody HBME-1 reacts with a minor subset of B cells with villous surface and can be useful in the diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia and other indolent lymphoproliferations of villous B lymphocytes

Our plain-English summary of Monoclonal antibody HBME-1 reacts with a minor subset of B cells with villous surface and can be useful in the diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia and other indolent lymphoproliferations of villous B lymphocytes, by L. Krenács, J. Tóth-Lipták, J. Demeter, et al (Virchows Archiv, 2013).

The study

• Authors: L. Krenács, J. Tóth-Lipták, J. Demeter, K. Piukovics, Z. Borbényi, P. Gogolák, E. Sári, E. Bagdi
• Journal: Virchows Archiv
• Published: 2013;463(6):787-94
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The Hector Battifora mesothelial epitope-1 (HBME-1) monoclonal antibody has been generated against human mesothelioma cells and recognizes a biochemically unknown membrane epitope. We have accidentally found that the HBME-1 reacts with scattered lymphocytes showing villous surface in hyperplastic lymphoid tissue. To evaluate its reactivity pattern, we have performed a consecutive immunohistochemical study in nonneoplastic bone marrow and lymphoid samples (n = 40), as well as in malignant lymphoproliferations (n = 427), including hairy cell leukemia (HCL) (n = 72), HCL variant (HCL-v) (n = 13), splenic diffuse red pulp small B cell lymphoma (SDRPL) (n = 8), splenic B cell marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) (n = 59), and splenic B cell lymphoma/leukemia, not further classifiable on bone marrow morphology (SBCL) (n = 37) cases. The staining pattern of HBME-1 was compared to DBA.44. HBME-1(+) villous lymphocytes were constantly detected in low number in nonneoplastic lymphoid tissues. With multicolor immunofluorescence staining, HBME-1(+) lymphocytes showed a CD20(+)/CD79a(+)/IgM(+) B cell phenotype. In B cell lymphoproliferations of villous lymphocytes, HBME-1 reactivity was demonstrated in 96 % of HCL, 39 % of HCL-v, 50 % of SDRPL, 12 % of SMZL, and 19 % of SBCL cases. Nodal and extranodal marginal zone lymphoma cases were positive in 12 % of the cases. A small minority (4 %) of the other B cell lymphomas and no T cell lymphoma revealed tumor cell reactivity with HBME-1. In conclusion, our study has established that HBME-1 reacts with a minor subset of B lymphocytes and a small proportion of B cell lymphomas, which has not been described previously. We suggest that HBME-1 can be a useful marker in the diagnosis of HCL and other indolent lymphoproliferations of villous B lymphocytes.

In plain English

This laboratory study from Hungary did not examine asbestos exposure or asbestos-related disease. It tested HBME-1, an antibody first made against human mesothelioma cells, as a stain for bone marrow and lymphoid tissue. The authors had noticed by chance that it marked some lymphocytes with a villous (hair-like) surface. They stained 40 non-cancerous samples and 427 lymphomas and leukemias from their laboratory's files, and compared HBME-1 with another stain, DBA.44. In non-cancerous tissue, HBME-1-positive lymphocytes were usually few, and they were B cells. Among the cancers, HBME-1 was positive in 69 of 72 hairy cell leukemia cases (95.8%), 5 of 13 hairy cell leukemia variant cases, 4 of 8 splenic diffuse red pulp small B cell lymphomas, 7 of 59 splenic marginal zone lymphomas and 6 of 51 other marginal zone lymphomas. Only 6 of 164 other B cell lymphomas were positive. No T cell or Hodgkin's lymphoma tumor cells stained. DBA.44 was positive in 70 of 72 hairy cell leukemias. The authors concluded that HBME-1 can be a useful marker in diagnosing hairy cell leukemia and related villous B cell conditions.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: laboratory immunohistochemistry study of archived tissue samples, comparing two antibody stains
• Who was studied: Archived samples from a laboratory in Szeged, Hungary: 40 nonneoplastic samples (bone marrow, lymph node, spleen, tonsil, gastric biopsy) and 427 malignant lymphoproliferations, including 72 hairy cell leukemia, 13 hairy cell leukemia variant, 8 splenic diffuse red pulp small B cell lymphoma, 59 splenic B cell marginal zone lymphoma, 37 splenic B cell lymphomas not further classifiable, 51 nodal and extranodal marginal zone lymphomas, 164 other B cell lymphomas, 5 classical Hodgkin's lymphomas and 18 T cell lymphomas. Collection dates are not given.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other exposure was studied. The study assessed staining with the HBME-1 antibody (raised against mesothelioma cells), compared with the DBA.44 antibody. A sample counted as positive when at least 20% of CD20-positive B cells stained.
• Main results:
  • In nonneoplastic tissues, HBME-1-positive lymphocytes were usually found in low number.
  • In nonneoplastic lymph node and spleen, the HBME-1-positive lymphocytes had a B cell phenotype.
  • Hairy cell leukemia: HBME-1 was positive in 69/72 cases (95.8%), compared with 70/72 (97.2%) for DBA.44.
  • HBME-1 was positive in 5/13 (39%) of hairy cell leukemia variant cases and 4/8 (50%) of splenic diffuse red pulp small B cell lymphoma cases.
  • HBME-1 was positive in 7/59 (12%) of splenic B cell marginal zone lymphomas and 7/37 (19%) of the splenic B cell lymphomas not further classifiable.
  • DBA.44 stained a higher proportion of cases than HBME-1 in each of these splenic lymphoma types.
  • Nonsplenic (nodal and extranodal) marginal zone lymphomas: HBME-1 was positive in 6/51 (12%).
  • Other B cell lymphomas: HBME-1 was positive in 6/164 (3.7%).
  • No HBME-1 staining of tumor cells was found in the T cell lymphoma or Hodgkin's lymphoma cases.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that HBME-1 reacts with a minor subpopulation of B cells with a villous surface, and proposed that it can be a useful marker in diagnosing hairy cell leukemia and other indolent lymphoproliferations of villous B lymphocytes.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Monoclonal Antibody, HBME-1, Mesothelioma.

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