Determination of proliferative fractions detected by immunohistochemistry with the monoclonal antibodies to bromodeoxyuridine and Ki-67 in malignant lymphomas

The stainability of proliferating cells with monoclonal antibodies to both bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and Ki-67 were compared in 22 malignant lymphomas and six related conditions. A significant correlation was observed (r = 0.78) between the positivities of proliferating cells determined using these two monoclonal antibodies. The growth fractions determined with the antibodies were usually related to the histologic classification, but labelling index was more varied in diffuse large cell type lymphoma. BrdU labelling was well correlated with the Working Formulation, and more useful as a prognostic indicator. On the other hand, Ki-67 was useful for broad recognition of cell proliferative ability.