MONOCYTE ESTERASE - A FACTOR INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE NEOPLASIA

  • 1 March 1987
    • journal article
    • letter
    • Vol. 1  (3) , 236-239
Abstract
Monocyte esterase activity was studied in 1,000 doctor-attending patients with normal hematological indices and in 56 patients with non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma (NHL) or B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The incidence of esterase deficiency was significantly greater in the NHL-CLL patients (7.1%) than in the population group (1.7%; p < 0.05). In the NHL-CLL group, study of the families showed the esterase deficiency to be a familial characteristic. We postulate that the presence of the anomaly may be either a factor predisposing to the development of the NHL or CLL or a factor indicating a predisposition to these disorders.