Fine needle aspirates in malignant lymphoma: possible value in predicting response to chemotherapy

ABSTRACT

We propose the use of serial lymph node fine needle aspiration for cyto-pathologic examination in the follow up of patients suffering from lymphoma who are under chemotherapy. Apoptotic bodies start to appear within two hours following therapy, reaching a peak in 10 hours then start to disappear. Cellular degeneration seems to reach the peak within 4-5 days. Apoptotic bodies and degenerated cell counts can be used as an index to assess cellular response to chemotherapy. Three cases are reported as examples of an ongoing project in our institute. Preliminary results indicate a close correlation between these indices and initial clinical response to therapy