The cleaved cell content of non-cleaved (transformed) follicular center cell lymphomas and its clinico-pathological significance.

The relationship of cleaved cell content and survival was studied in 122 patients with transformed small and large non-cleaved cell types of the Lukes and Collins classification for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The large non-cleaved follicular center cell (FCC) type showed higher contents of cleaved cells than did the others; the geometric mean value differed significantly from that of small non-cleaved FCC Burkitt type (p less than 0.0001) or non-Burkitt type (p less than 0.01) lymphomas. There was a tendency toward a better prognosis with large fractions of cleaved cells but no statistical difference was found. The prognostic characteristics of the neoplastic clone are better revealed by the predominant cell.