How is
systemic ALCL diagnosed?
ALCL diagnosis requires a careful history and detailed physical examination. Most enlarged lymph nodes are usually a reaction to infection and are not cancer. The diagnosis can be made with certainty by a biopsy of an involved lymph node or another involved organ.
Systemic ALCL is diagnosed by its appearance in biopsy material viewed under a microscope. Diagnosis is aided by the fact that ALCL cells have a particular protein (called CD30) on their outer surface which is otherwise rare. Specials stains make this protein show up under the microscope helping to confirm the diagnosis.
Approximately half of all cases of systemic ALCL cells also show an unusual picture in their chromosomes known as
t(2;5) translocation. These patients are also known as "ALK-positive" because their tumor cells produce a special enzyme called anaplastic
lymphoma kinase. This can also be used to confirm the diagnosis in these cases. |
