Dear Steve,
We find it is not uncommon to see both kappa and lambda staining with hairy
cell leukaemia, in fact it is a pointer to that diagnosis. I gather it is
due to cytophilic immunoglobulin bound to the cell membrane. One method to
remove it is to acetate wash cells. There is a method in Methods in
Haematology: The Leukaemic Cell. page 145. Ed by Catovsky First Edition
1981. Can't find it in the later edition. The reference given is Habeshaw
et al,1979, Brit J Cancer 40: 11.Briefly: Cells are incubated in Acetate
buffer ph 5.5 at 37C for 10 minutes with occasional shaking, washed twice ,
resuspended in medium for 2 hours at 37C. Washed twice ,then repeat the
test.
An alternative which works well is to perform kappa and lambda staining on
cytospins by APAAP technique. This invariably confirms monoclonality and is
useful if the hairy cells are a minority population.
Hope this helps
Jan
Jan Nelson
Molecular Haematology
Department of Molecular Medicine
The University of Auckland
Phone: (+64)(9) 373-7599 ext 6381
Fax: (+64)(9) 373-7292