The value of PCR technique in fine needle aspiration biopsy of salivary gland for diagnosis of low-grade B-cell lymphoma.

In fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of salivary gland delineation of low-grade B-cell lymphoma from benign lymphoid lesions of myoepithelial sialadenitis (MESA) may be very difficult by means of cytomorphological criteria alone. To improve cytodiagnosis PCR technique was applied on routinely stained smears to determine clonal status by amplifying the third complementarity-determining region (CDR3) of the hypervariable domain of the immunoglobulin heavy chain. Twelve cases diagnosed cytologically as suspicious of low-grade B-NHL with following histology of B-NHL (n = 5) or MESA (n = 7) were analyzed. The CDR3-IgH PCR produced distinct bands in 10/12 cases. The PCR products were analyzed with Genescan software on the DNA sequencer, which demonstrated monoclonal bands in all NHLs and in one case of MESA. The results indicate that PCR technique may be helpful in improving cytodiagnostic accuracy for recognition of low-grade B-NHL of salivary gland.