Proliferative activity and number of clonal chromosome aberrations in non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas

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Abstract
Thymidine labelling indices (LI) and the number of clonal chromosome aberrations were assessed in fine‐needle aspirates from enlarged lymph nodes in 22 patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). 11 patients had LI > 3.0 (median 8.4) and 11 others had LI < 3.0 (median 1.0). Three categories of chromosome aberration were recorded: normal karyotype, 1–5 aberrations, and ≥ 6 aberrations or multiple complex changes. The distribution of these categories was different among the patients with LI > 3.0 compared to those with LI < 3.0 (p = 0.02). 8 of 11 patients with LI > 3.0 had ≥ 6 or complex changes. The corresponding figures for patients with LI < 3.0 were 2 out of 11. When 16 previously untreated patients were analysed separately, the median number of clonal aberrations was 6.5 in 8 patients with LI > 3.0 and 2.5 in 8 others with LI < 3.0 (p = 0.025). The results suggest that early and spontaneous changes in the genetic material are common in lymphomas with a high proliferative activity. According to previous studies, therapeutic results are especially poor in NHL with high LI. It is proposed that a high proliferative activity of lymphoma cells facilitates an early development of several new mutants and that some of these may be resistant to chemotherapeutic agents.