UABDivulga - Barcelona recerca i innovació

Lymphoma is one of the most common tumors in dogs, and early diagnosis is vital. Until now, distinguishing whether the lymphoma originated from B lymphocytes (associated with a better prognosis) or T lymphocytes relied on complex techniques such as flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, or immunohistochemistry.

In our recent study, we validated a completely new methodology that allows this distinction to be made almost immediately. Most importantly, this is the first time that this technology has been validated for the preliminary determination of lymphoma phenotype, both in veterinary medicine and in human medicine.

How does this technology work? Our research is based on the use of the Sysmex XN-1000V hematology analyzer, an instrument commonly found in many reference laboratories. This analyzer uses a fluorescence-based system that stains cellular nucleic acids (mainly RNA). In our case, instead of analyzing blood samples, we directly evaluated lymph node cell suspensions obtained by fine-needle aspiration.

What are the key results of the study? We found that cells of B-cell lymphoma show a higher affinity for this reagent than cells of T-cell lymphoma. This is because the primary function of B lymphocytes is antibody production, and therefore they contain a higher amount of RNA, which results in a higher signal intensity in the analyzer. After analyzing more than 100 cases, we confirmed that B- and T-cell lymphomas display distinct cellular patterns, as you can see on the ilustration below:
In the analyzer plots, the Y-axis represents fluorescence. Image A corresponds to a B-cell lymphoma, where a greater accumulation of events (cells) is observed in the upper region. In contrast, image B corresponds to a T-cell lymphoma, in which most events are concentrated in the lower region.

The main advantage of this method is its low cost and the fact that it does not require specialized personnel or specific reagents such as antibodies. Although it does not replace definitive diagnostic tests, it provides a rapid and accessible screening tool that is essential for helping the clinical veterinarian guide treatment decisions from the very beginning.