CD138

Background

CD138 is a transmembrane proteoglycan expressed in stratified and simple epithelium, which is expressed in the late stage of B cell differentiation and progression to plasma cell in hematopoietic system. It can be used to distinguish lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma from borderline lymphoma. Large B cell lymphoma (LBCL) of ALK usually strongly expresses CD138, but does not express lineage related markers such as CD20 and CD79a. Although lymphoma cells do not express general B-cell markers, CD138 is still expressed in HHV8 related primary exudative lymphoma. CD138 is a good index to count the plasma cells in bone marrow biopsy samples and to identify their benign, reactive or malignant.