Comparative analysis of 3H‐thymidine labelling index and monoclonal antibody Ki‐67 in non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas

摘要

AbstractThe relation between the 3H‐thymidine labelling index (3H‐Thy LI), which evaluates the S‐phase cells, and the monoclonal antibody Ki‐67 (MoAb Ki‐67), which recognizes a nuclear antigen expressed during the cell cycle, was defined in 35 non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Significantly higher median values of 3H‐Thy LI and Ki‐67‐positive cells were observed for high‐grade than for low‐grade malignancy tumours according to the Kiel classification, but with wide and overlapping values for the two morphologic subgroups. A significant correlation was observed between 3H‐Thy LI and Ki‐67‐positive cells (P<0.0001;r= 0.62). However, the ratio between the two cell kinetic variables on individual tumours was not constant. It sharply increased with decreasing 3H‐Thy LI values and was much higher in low‐grade NHL than in high‐grade NHL. Follow‐up studies are needed to establish the role of the tumour growth fraction as evaluated by MoAb Ki