Diffuse centrocytic and/or centroblastic malignant non‐hodgkin's lymphomas: Comparison of mitotic and pyknotic (apoptotic) indices

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Mitotic indices (Mls) and pyknotic (apoptotic) indices (Pls) were assessed in diffuse centrocytic (CC, n = 10), centroblastic/centrocytic (CB/CC, n = 18)and centroblastic(CB, n = 20) malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Significant differences were observed. Mls were lowest in CC (median: 0.07%), intermediate in CB/CC (0.18%) and highest in CB (0.43%) NHLs. The Pls exhibited a similar pattern. The Pls of CC (0.11%) and CB/CC (0.17%) NHLs were significantly different from those of CB lymphoma (0.62%). The ratios MI/PI per case, as well as Mls and Pls per case, varied greatly and showed considerable overlapping, thus documenting a marked inter-case and inter-group heterogeneity. Mls tended to loosely correlate with Pls in a non-linear fashion, which raises the question of feedback mechanisms. More information is needed on mitotic time (TM) and apoptotic time (TA), in order to estimate cell doubling time from data on Mls and Pls.