Membrane-bound Ig were studied by
immunofluorescence methods in 116
patients with lymphoproliferative disorders.
Surface Ig synthetized in vitro
were studied in many patients. In 70
of 73 cases of chronic lymphocytic
leukemia (49 without and 24 with
monoclonal serum Ig), monoclonal surface
Ig with a distribution for heavy
and light chains similar to that of normal
lymphocytes were found. In three
cases, these surface Ig accumulated
as crystals in the lymphocyte cytoplasm.
Studies limited to staining of
freshly drawn cells may lead to erroneous
conclusions since serum antibodies
may become bound to the cell
surface and simultaneous positivity for