|
Terry Hamblin |
Splenic
lymphoma (full name splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes [SLVL]
- also known as splenic marginal zone lymphoma) is the disease most
commonly
mistaken for CLL. It differs in the following ways:
1 The leukemic cells tend to be slightly larger than CLL cells and to
have
slightly more open chromatin and a nucleolus. There are also fine
projections
from the cell surface (villi) which tend to be concentrated at one end
onf the
cell (although in some microscopic preparations they are absent)
2 The spleen is almost always enlarged, but lymph nodes hardly ever are.
3 It tends to be more benign than CLL
4 The chromosomes are different - the usual CLL abnormalities -
del13q14,
trisomy 12, del 11q23 and del 17p13 are not usually present. A complex
karyotype
is often present despite the disease being fairly benign.
5 Unlike CLL, SLVL is usually CD5, CD23 negative and has bright surface
immunoglobulin and is positive for CD79b.
6 Sometimes you get very long remissions by removing the spleen. |