Biopsy of cervical lymph node.

OBJECTIVE This report examines 60 non-cancer patients who underwent a cervical lymph node biopsy, and discusses the value of the cervical lymph node biopsy as a diagnostic tool. METHODS Sixty patients with cervical lymph node enlargement who had lymph node biopsies at the Juntendo University between 2004 and 2007 were examined. The clinical parameters including age, size of the lymph node, white blood cell (WBC), C reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrase (LDH), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2r) were measured at initial examination. Fine needle aspiration cytology was carried out in all patients. The patients were divided into 2 groups, including the malignant lymphoma (ML) group and the benign disease group. These groups were compared based on the patient's clinical parameters. RESULTS Serum levels of LDH, sIL-2r, age and lymph node size in the ML group were significantly higher than in the benign group. WBC and CRP showed no significant differences. Simple regression analysis showed that there are correlation between the size of enlargement lymph node and serum levels of LDH and sIL-2r in ML group. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that a biopsy should be considered early to patients with an advanced age, large swollen lymph nodes or high levels of serum sIL-2r or LDH.