CD57 - A review

CD57 antibodies react with a variety of nonneoplastic cells and tumors. In peripheral blood, CD57-positive lymphocytes increase with age and represent 10-20% of cells in most adults. These lymphocytes include a subset of CD-8 positive T lymphocytes as well as natural killer (NK) cells. Outside of the peripheral blood, CD57 antibodies stain some neural cells, neuroendocrine cells, and prostatic epithelium. A large number of tumors also react to varying degrees with CD57 antibodies, including the majority of cases of large granular lymphocytosis, carcinoid tumor, thyroid carcinoma, prostatic adenocarcinoma, neuroblastoma, neural tumors, and central nervous system tumors. Nonneoplastic CD57-positive lymphocytes are increased in association with other tumors, most notably follicular Lymphoma and nodular L and H lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin\u27s disease. This review describes the distribution of this antigen on nonneoplastic and tumor cells and discusses the diagnostic utility of the detection of the CD57 antigen