Test
From haematologyetc.co.uk
Background
Typical CLL can be diagnosed with some confidence using flow cytometry. CLL cells express low levels of B-cell receptor associated molecules (e.g. CD19, CD79B and sIg) together with CD5 and CD23 in typical cases. However, atypical cases are regularly encoutered and can cause diagnosic difficulty.
Immunophenotype of CLL | ||
---|---|---|
Major markers useful in CLL diagnosis | ||
Light chains | Wk | Either weak restricted κ or λ or undetectable expression |
CD19 | Wk/mod | Expression is expected, but less strong than normal B cells |
CD20 | Wk | Expression is expected, but characteristically weak |
CD79A | Wk | Expression is expected, but characteristically weak |
FMC7 | Wk | May be expressed by atypical cases, generally absent |
CD200 | Mod | Characteristically positive in CLL and negative in MCL |
CD5 | Mod | Characteristic of CLL, usually less strong than on T cells |
CD23 | Mod | Characteristic of CLL, although can rarely be weak or absent |
CD43 | Mod | Similar to CD200, may be helpful in some cases |
Other markers with diagnostic relevance | ||
CD11c | Wk | Expressed in some cases, but tends to be wk |
CD103 | - | Not expressed by CLL, consider HCL if found |
CD10 | Wk | Rare in CLL, consider FL if detected |
Pitfalls and atypical cases