[Fas antigen (CD95) expressions and apoptosis of neoplastic cells from various lymphoid malignancies including adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma].

We determined Fas antigen (CD95) expressions on neoplastic cells from various lymphoid malignancies including adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL/L) by a flow cytometoric method. ATL/L cells generally expressed Fas antigen, while few Fas-positive cells were detected in the other lymphoid malignancies such as non-Hodgkin lymphomas, acute lymphoblastic leukemias, and chronic lymphocytic leukemias. The function of Fas antigen was considered normal, since anti-Fas monoclonal antibody induced apoptosis of ATL/L cells. However, clinical subtypes of ATL/L did not associate with the degrees of Fas antigen expression. When recent observations by others were also considered, the apoptosis of ATL/L cells seemed to be under a complex control mechanism which includes a Fas/Fas-ligand system, HTLV-I Tax protein, bcl-2 protein and interleukin-2 (IL-2)/IL-2 receptor system. In addition, the regulation of apoptosis by Fas/Fas-ligand system and bcl-2 protein might be different between T-and B-lineage lymphoid malignancies.