Analysis of tumor cell surface antigens

The cell surface analysis is a very useful tool to diagnose tumor cells, especially hematological disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma. Particularly owing to the recent spread of flow cytometry and development of monoclonal antibodies, a single color analysis has become to be used as routine clinical series at many institutions. Recently a two color analysis with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and phycoerythrin (PE) has become to be easily applied to a cell surface staining and a more detail analysis has become to be available in studying cell surface antigens. By using a two color technic, it has been found that adult T cell leukemia cells, which are positive for CD4 (helper/inducer T lymphocytes) in a single color analysis, are derived from suppressor inducer T cells (CD4+--Leu 8+). The increased cells in thymoma have also been identified to be positive for CD4 and CD8 simultaneously (CD4+--CD8+). We conclude that a two color analysis is a very useful tool to study more detail and precise cell surface markers. A flow chart to diagnose hematological disorders with cell surface markers is also proposed in this article.