Objective: To examine the significance of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining in clinical characterization of malignant lymphoma cases.
Methods: Fresh peripheral blood smear obtained from 238 cases of malignant lymphoma, including 23 cases with bone marrow involvement (BMI) 189 cases without BMI(NBMI), and 26 cases of lymphoma cell leukemia (LCL), were examined by ALP staining, and the results were compared with those of 40 normal control subjects.
Results: With the gradual progression of lymphoma, the patients tended to have higher ALP scores, and the percentages of the subjects with a score higher than 250 in the control, NBMI, BMI and LCL were 0, 4.8%, 39.1%, 53.9% respectively, showing significant differences between the four groups.
Conclusions: Increased ALP activity can be indirectly indicative of lymphoma progression, and ALP staining results may provide insight into the clinical staging and prognosis of malignant lymphoma.