Primary effusion lymphoma: current perspectives

Figures & data

Table 1 Pathologic features differentiating PEL from other aggressive lymphomas

	DLBCL immunoblastic variant	PBL	ALCL	PEL
Morphology	Diffuse sheets of large cells with prominent nucleoli and abundant cytoplasm, with plasmacytoid features	Diffuse large cells with abundant cytoplasm and eccentrically placed nuclei and smaller nucleoli resembling plasma cells	Pleomorphic nuclei with multiple (or single) prominent nucleoli with abundant cytoplasm	Variable morphology between large immunoblastic, plasmablastic or anaplastic large cell lymphoma
EBV positivity	90%–100%	>50%	Negative	60%–90%
HHV8 positivity	–	–	–	100%
Phenotype	BCL6−, CD138+, MUM1+	CD38+, CD138+, CD20−	CD30+, EMA+, CD4+, CD2+, TIA, Granzyme or Perforin+	CD30+, CD38+, CD138+, CD45+
Cellular origin	Mostly GC or post-GC B cells	Post-GC cells	Primitive T-cell origin	GC or post-GC B cells

Abbreviations: PEL, primary effusion lymphoma; EBV, Epstein Bar virus; HHV8, human herpes virus 8; GC, germinal center; DLBCL, diffuse large B cell lymphoma; PBL, plasmablastic lymphoma; ALCL, anaplastic large cell lymphoma.