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Human bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) is a lung cancer, morphologically similar to an endemic contagious lung neoplasm of sheep called sheep pulmonary adenomatosis (SPA) or jaagsiekte. SPA is caused by an exogenous type B/D retrovirus (jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV)), which prompted the present study to obtain evidence of a retrovirus in BAC.A panel of 249 human lung tumours, 21 nontumour lung lesions, four normal lung tissues, 23 adenocarcinomas from other organs and a cell line expressing a human endogenous retrovirus protein was examined immunohistochemically using a rabbit antiserum directed against the JSRV capsid protein.Specific staining was detected only in the cytoplasm of recognizably neoplastic cells in the pulmonary alveoli of 39 of 129 (30%) BACs, 17 of 65 (26%) lung adenocarcinomas and two of seven large cell carcinomas. The remaining samples were negative.These results support the hypothesis that some human pulmonary tumours may be associated with a jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus-related retrovirus, warranting further studies. Eur Respir J 2000; 15: 330±332.

The patient was a 64-year-old married woman who had borne two children. Both children had been bottle-fed. She was seen in the breast clinic on 20 August 1976 with a history of a lump in the left breast of nine months' duration. The lump had been painful on occasions and she was aware of an inincrease in size. She had lost 1 5 stones (9 53 kg) in weight. There was no history of previous breast disease or discharge from the nipple. The menopause had been at the age of 50 years.On examination there was a clinical carcinoma, 4 0 cm in diameter, in the lower outer quadrant of the left breast. The skin was tethered but there was no ulceration. Nodes were felt in the left axilla.The right breast and axilla were normal. Mammography showed an opacity, measuring approximately 3-0 cm, in the lower outer quadrant of the left breast. The opacity was noted to have irregular margins and the radiological features of malig-

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Immunoblastic lymphadenopathy (IBL) or angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy with dysproteinaemia (AILD) is a recently recognised clinicopathological entity. It has been considered to be a non-neoplastic hyperimmune state caused by an abnormal proliferation of B lymphocytes with an associated defect of T-cell regulatory functions. Clinically, the disease occurs predominantly in the elderly and is characterized by acute constitutional symptoms, cutaneous rash, generalised lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. Polyclonal hyperglobulinaemia and haemolytic anaemia are frequently present. Histologically, the lymph nodes show proliferation of immunoblasts, plasmacytoid immunoblasts, plasma cells, and arborising blood vessels and the presence of acidophilic hyaline interstitial material (Frizzera et al., 1974;Lukes and Tindle, 1975). The number of cases undergoing transformation into malignant lymphoma or immunoblastic sarcoma ranges from 0 to 35 % (Frizzera et al., 1974;Nathwani et al., 1978). This complication of IBL has been documented infrequently in the British literature. We report a case of IBL that underwent transition to an immunoblastic sarcoma (IBS) and give the immunohistochemical and necropsy findings.Case report A 64-year-old supervisor in a cotton mill was