Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma associated with IgM paraprotein: A clinicopathologic study of 26 cases

We studied the clinicopathologic, immunophenotypic, and cytogenetic features of 26 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) associated with serum IgM paraprotein. The study group (16 men; 10 women; median age, 64 years; range, 40-82 years) represents approximately 2.5% of CLL/SLL cases at our institution. The paraprotein level ranged from 1 to 14 g/L (median, 4 g/L). Neoplasms in bone marrow were composed of small round lymphocytes arranged in nodular (n = 6), diffuse (n = 5), interstitial (n = 5), or mixed (n = 10) patterns. All cases were positive for monotypic surface immunoglobulin light chain, IgM/IgD, CD5, CD19, CD20, and CD23. CD11c (14/20 [70%]), CD79b (11/19 [58%]), FMC-7 (11/26 [42%]), CD22 (8/20 [40%]), and ZAP-70 (6/19 [32%]) were expressed in subsets of cases. Of 17 bone marrow specimens assessed by conventional cytogenetics, 6 were abnormal and 11 were diploid. The overall survival of this group (median follow-up, 24 months) was not significantly different from that for an age-, sex-, and stage-matched group of 52 CLL/SLL patients without IgM paraprotein (P = .60). We conclude that CLL/SLL cases with serum IgM paraprotein are similar to other CLL/SLL cases in their clinicopathologic and immunophenotypic features.