Granzyme B Immunoreactivity in T/natural Killer Cell Lymphomas

Granzyme B is one of the serine proteases expressed in natural killer (NK) cells and activated cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. To evaluate the usefulness of granzyme B immunoreactivity in the diagnosis of T/NK-cell lymphoma, we studied 69 cases of lymphomas occurring in the upper aerodigestive tract by paraffin-section immunohistochemistry using a commercially available monoclonal antibody to granzyme B (GrB-7). All 19 cases of T/NK-cell lymphomas defined by the expression of CD56 (NHK-1) and one or both T-cell markers (polyclonal CD3 and CD45RO) expressed granular cytoplasmic granzyme B immunoreactivity. Two out of 9 cases of T-cell lymphomas showing no CD56 expression demonstrated strong granzyme B immunoreactivity. No tumor cells among 39 cases of B-cell diffuse large cell lymphomas and 2 cases of null cell diffuse large cell lymphomas were immunoreactive for granzyme B, however a few scattered granzyme B-positive reactive small lymphoid cells were consistently observed. Based on its sensitivity in this study as well as its reactivity in routinely processed tissue sections, even without heat-induced epitope retrieval technique, monoclonal antibody to granzyme B (GrB-7) can be applied as a useful marker in the diagnosis of T/NK-cell lymphomas in conjunction with CD56.