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The Germinal centre‐derived lymphomas seen through their cellular microenvironment
Author(s) -
Carbone Antonino,
Gloghini Annunziata,
Cabras Antonello,
Elia Giuliano
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2009.07651.x
Subject(s) - germinal center , follicular dendritic cells , lymphoma , follicular lymphoma , biology , pathology , lymph node , tumor microenvironment , cancer research , malignancy , b cell , t cell , medicine , immunology , antibody , antigen presenting cell , immune system , tumor cells
Summary The human lymph node is a complex tissue resulting from the microenvironmental organisation of different cell populations linked by topographical and/or functional relationships. Germinal centres (GCs) of lymphoid follicles contain a meshwork of follicular dendritic cells in addition to B‐cells and some CD4 + T cells. Moreover, there is a sharp demarcation around the whole follicle centre, which is highlighted by fibroblastic reticulum cells. On the whole, GC exerts a role in B cell physiology and malignancy. In GC‐derived lymphomas, gene expression profiling studies have raised the possibility that survival of the affected patients may be associated with signatures preferentially expressed in non‐malignant T cells and macrophages and/or dendritic cells. Immunohistological analyses in lymphoma biopsy samples have confirmed that the biological behaviour and tumour progression may be influenced by the tumour microenvironment. This review will examine GC‐derived lymphomas, including follicular lymphomas, Hodgkin lymphomas and angioimmunoblastic T‐cell lymphoma, through their integrated cellular microenvironment, highlighting those findings which may serve as a useful surrogate marker for tumour diagnosis or tumour progression, together with key molecules involved in tumour development.