RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Persistent polyclonal B lymphocytosis with Epstein-Barr virus antibodies and subsequent malignant pulmonary blastoma.
JF Journal of Clinical Pathology
JO J Clin Pathol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists
SP 341
OP 342
DO 10.1136/jcp.44.4.341
VO 44
IS 4
A1 E Lawlor
A1 M Murray
A1 D S O'Briain
A1 C Blaney
A1 L Foroni
A1 P Sarsfield
A1 D Condell
A1 F Sullivan
A1 S R McCann
YR 1991
UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/44/4/341.abstract
AB Persistent polyclonal B lymphocytosis (PPBL), a rare benign lymphoproliferative disorder, occurred in a 25 year old woman. The lymphocytes showed the phenotype cIgM+, FMC7+, CD19+, CD20+, which was similar to that seen in Waldenstrom's macroglobinaemia, but the proliferation was repeatedly shown to be polyclonal both immunologically and by immunoglobulin gene rearrangement studies. Eleven years after presentation the patient developed a malignant pulmonary blastoma, a rare pulmonary tumour of combined epithelial and mesenchymal origin. The failure to develop a lymphoid malignancy over 11 years together with immunological and genetic evidence of polyclonality confirms that PPBL is a benign lymphoproliferative disorder. The subsequent occurrence of a nonhaemopoietic malignancy suggests that benign lymphoid proliferations, like their malignant counterparts, may predispose to the development of neoplasia. A role for Epstein-Barr virus in the pathogenesis of one or both of these rare conditions is suggested by the finding of raised Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen titres.