Sixteen primary
lymphomas of the central nervous system (CNS) have been studied with an immunoperoxidase technique (PAP) for the demonstration of intracytoplasmic
immunoglobulins. The material was obtained by biopsy (10 cases) and at autopsy (6 cases). For comparison, ten other
tumors (glial
tumors and secondary
lymphomas involving the nervous tissue) were simultaneously investigated. In the 16 primary
lymphomas, 14 contained intracellular
immunoglobulins that were considered "monoclonal" in 9 cases, "probably monoclonal" in 4 cases but "uninterpretable" in the last one. According to the Kiel classification, the 13
malignant lymphomas with intracellular
immunoglobulins were classified, morphologically, as
immunoblastic sarcomas (9 cases) or immunocytomas (4 cases). No
immunoglobulins were detected in 2 cases: 1
lymphoblastic lymphoma and 1 centrocytic
lymphoma. Various amounts of intracytoplasmic
immunoglobulins were detected in inflammatory cells and glial cells (either reactive or tumoral) but the pattern of staining was consistent with current concepts of polyclonality. Therefore, a diagnosis based on the Kiel classification of
lymphomas and the PAP technique will allow a more accurate prognosis on the evolution of primary
lymphomas of the CNS with aspect of "high grade" and "low grade"
malignancy.