They also aberrantly express T-cell antigens CD5 and CD43, in addition to another characteristic antigen, CD23. Cytogenetically some cases show trisomy 12. Often these are the cases with trisomy 12. This variant may follow a slightly more aggressive course. Although the slowly proliferating cells are sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapy is almost never curative and relapse inevitably follows.
Most studies find no benefit in treating patients until they develop symptoms.
A new and promising drug is fludarabine, but it has not been shown to prolong survival either. Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma Note the 2 plasma cells in the upper half. The presence of quantities of this large protein in the blood may produce hyperviscosity symptoms such as bleeding, confusion, fatigue, and oncotic plasma volume expansion. About one-third of patients show evidence of hepatitis C infection. It is this trait that distinguishes the lymphoma from SLL, in which the cells have surface immunoglobulin and may secrete it, but their cytoplasm does not harbor enough immunoglobulin to detect with routine immunohistochemistry.