Use of antibodies against the variable regions of the T‐cell receptor α/β heterodimer for the study of cutaneous T‐cell lymphomas

Summary Recent studies have suggested that antibodies against the variable (V) regions of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) may be used as markers for clonality and malignancy in T-cell infiltrates. We have investigated this by examining biopsy samples from 45 patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) for reactivity with seven antibodies against different V-gene families on the TCR α/β heterodimer, i.e. ICI (VβSa), W112 (Vβ5b), OT145 (Vβ6a), 16G8 (Vβ8a), S511 (Vβ12a), Fl (Vα2a) and LC4 (αβVa). Serial biopsies were available in 13 patients and a total of 62 samples were studied. The neoplastic cells in five cases were positive for either Vβ5 (one case), Vβ6 (one case), Vβ8 (two cases) or Vβ12 (one case). In the remaining 40 cases, no staining was seen of the neoplastic cells. These findings indicate that while antibodies against the TCR V-regions may be used as clonotypic markers for certain T-cell neoplasms, there is as yet not a sufficient number of anti-TCR V-region antibodies available for the routine diagnosis of these conditions.