Lymphoma usually forms solid tumours in patients, and high expression levels of adhesion molecules are observed in these tumours. However, Kaposi's sarcoma‐associated herpesvirus (KSHV)‐related primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) does not form solid tumours and adhesion molecule expression is suppressed in the cells. Inoculation of a KSHV‐associated PEL cell line into the peritoneal cavity of severe combined immunodeficiency mice resulted in the formation of effusion and solid lymphomas in the peritoneal cavity. Proteomics using two‐dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and DNA microarray analyses identified 14 proteins and 105 genes, respectively, whose expression differed significantly between effusion and solid lymphomas. Five genes were identified as having similar expression profiles to that of lymphocyte function‐associated antigen 1, an important adhesion molecule in leukocytes. Among these, coronin 1A, an actin‐binding protein, was identified as a molecule showing high expression in solid lymphoma by both DNA microarray and proteomics analyses. Western and northern blotting showed that coronin 1A was predominantly expressed in solid lymphomas. Moreover, KSHV‐encoded lytic proteins, including viral interleukin‐6, were highly expressed in effusion lymphoma compared with solid lymphoma. These data demonstrate that effusion and solid lymphomas possess distinctive gene and protein expression profiles in our mouse model, and suggest that differences in gene and protein expression between effusion and solid lymphomas may be associated with the formation of effusion lymphoma or invasive features of solid lymphoma. Furthermore, the results obtained using this combination of proteomics and DNA microarray analyses indicate that protein synthesis partly reflects, but does not correlate strictly with, mRNA production. Copyright © 2006 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.