CD10 expression assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) is useful in diagnosis of acute B-cell lymphoid leukemia, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). However, in a considerable number of patients with AITL and FL, expression level of CD10 is so low that it cannot be detected with antibodies. We compared the sensitivity of seven commercially available CD10 antibodies, and investigated association of translocation of bcl-2 and CD10 expression in FL. There are significant difference in the several antibodies in fluorescent level. Fluorescence intensity of all five phycoerythrin (PE)-labeled antibodies are higher than those of two fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled antibodies. In FL, detection rate of CD10 was 32/56 (57%) with FITC-labeled antibodies, and 36/42 (86%) with PE-labeled antibodies, respectively. In 41 patients with FL, with PE-labeled antibodies, CD10 expression rate was 35/41 (85%), and 24 patients (58%) harbored translocation of bcl-2. None showed translocation of bcl-2 without expression of CD10. In regard to detection of CD10 expression in FL by FCM, sensitivity depends on the sort of antibody.
