The leucocyte adhesion molecule LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) and its counter structure ICAM-1 (CD54) play a pivotal role in cell-cell interactions in the immune system and hence their expression on malignant cells might play an important role in determining the biological behavior of lymphoid malignancies. This study examined the LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) and ICAM-1 (CD54) expression profiles of a large series of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL, n = 220) and lymphoid leukemias (LL, n = 48), which, by their differentiation-antigen phenotype represented essentially all stages of lymphoid development from stem cell to mature activated T- and B-lymphocyte. It was found that NHL and LL differentially express LFA-1 and ICAM-1 molecules according to their lineage derivation, stage of differentiation, and growth pattern. Specifically: (a) T-cell neoplasms nearly always express LFA-1 whereas B-cell tumors are often LFA-1 low/negative; (b) ICAM-1 expression is largely confined to tumors with a mature or activated T- or B-cell phenotype; (c) neoplasms with a leukemic dissemination pattern are either ICAM-1 low or negative. Importantly, neither LFA-1 nor ICAM-1 expression was related to tumor grade.