Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults. Protein profile of CSF and serum in 25 patients

Twenty-five non-Hodgkin's adult patients of a cohort studied for detection of neurologic involvement were evaluated on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein profile. CSF and serum were collected in the same occasion. Blood-brain barrier and local synthesis of IgG were studied. There was an incidence of neurologic signs and symptoms in 48% of all patients. Samples analysis showed: increase of total protein in CSF in 52%; local synthesis of IgG in one HIV seropositive patient; IgG concentration increase in the CSF in the absence of malignant cells in the CSF in two patients that clinically improved after chemotherapy; oligoclonal bands only in the CSF in one HTLV-I seropositive patient. These data show that the study of CSF protein profile can contribute in the characterization of CNS involvement in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.