THE VALUE OF IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY
IN THE ASSESSMENT OF BONE MARROW DISORDERS

Attilio Orazi, M.D., FRCPath. and Dennis P. O'Malley, M.D.

CD15 Anti-CD15 is a monoclonal antibody made in mice against purified neutrophils from normal human peripheral blood. It reacts against mature granulocytes and also against Hodgkin's and Reed-Sternberg cells. We use a heat induced epitope retrieval method. The stain works well in both formalin and B5-fixed tissue and in decalcified material. We do not find CD15 to be as valuable in the detection of granulocyte precursors as myeloperoxidase, for it appears to be much less sensitive. It's major use, in our hands, is in the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. In many cases, Reed-Sternberg cells and mononuclear Reed-Sternberg cells are positive, except in cases of lymphocyte predominance. CD15 reacts with cases of metastatic carcinomas (e.g. lung adenocarcinoma). References Stein H, Uchanska-Ziegler B, Gerdes J, Ziegler A, Wernet P. Hodgkin and Sternberg-Reed cells contain antigens specific to late cells of granulopoiesis. Int J Cancer 1982;29:283. Schienle HW, Stein H, Muller-Rucholtz W. Neutrophil granulocytic cell antigen defined by a monoclonal antibody - its distribution within normal haemic and non-haemic tissue. J Clin Pathol 1982;35:959. Dorfman RF, Gatter KC, Pulford KAF, Mason DY. An evaluation of the utility of anti-granulocyte and anti-leukocyte monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. Am J Pathol 1986;123:508.