2016 Volume 55 Issue 4 Pages 215-223
Objective : In Burkitt lymphoma (BL), fat vacuoles can be seen in the cytoplasm in Giemsa-stained sections cytoplasmic vacuoles are also seen in other malignant lymphomas. We examined the correlation between the rate of detection of cytoplasmic vacuoles in sections stained with Giemsa and the positivity rate on adipophilin immunohistochemistry.
Study Design : We performed Giemsa staining and adipophilin immunostaining of sections obtained from 101 patients, with both benign and malignant lesions. In addition, Sudan III staining was performed in a few cases.
Results : Cytoplasmic fat vacuoles were seen in less than 10% of the benign lesions, whereas they were observed in more than 20% of the malignant lesions. Immunohistochemistry for adipophilin was positive in less than 20% of benign lesions, whereas a high percentage of malignant lymphomas showed positive adipophilin reactivity. On Sudan III staining, positive staining were seen in the case of BL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL).
Conclusion : According to the staining results, it may be considered that the cytoplasmic vacuoles are fat vacuoles. In our series, a higher incidence than 20% of lymphocytic cytoplasmic vacuoles on Giemsa staining was observed only in cases of malignant lymphoma ; therefore, cytoplasmic vacuoles occurring at a higher frequency of 20% should suggest the possibility of malignant lymphoma. A large number of cells in BL, DLBCL, ALCL and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma were found to contain cytoplasmic vacuoles.
