Expression of p63 in anaplastic large cell lymphoma but not in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma

Immunohistochemical determination of p63 protein is frequently used in the pathologic diagnosis of nonhematological solid tumors. In malignant hematological disease, p63 expression has been reported in 22% of follicular lymphoma, about 35% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, 23% of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and in some cases of blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a rare disease that accounts for less than 5% of all cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There is little information concerning p63 expression in this specific type of lymphoma. In some cases, the morphological and phenotypic features between anaplastic large cell lymphoma and classical Hodgkin's lymphoma are similar, making this differential diagnosis challenging. We studied p63 expression using a tissue microarray approach in 154 cases of anaplastic large cell lymphoma, including 38% anaplastic large cell kinase positive and 62% anaplastic large cell kinase negative, and 58 Hodgkin's lymphoma cases. Sixty-eight cases of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (44%) showed p63 nuclear positivity (41% of anaplastic large cell kinase positive and 47% of anaplastic large cell kinase negative). Of 130 cases of systemic-anaplastic large cell lymphoma, 42% showed p63 positivity. The neoplastic cells expressed p63 in 38% of the cases of CD45-negative/anaplastic large cell kinase-negative null cell-type anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a subgroup that offers the most difficulties in the differential diagnosis with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. In contrast, none of the cases of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma demonstrated any p63 expression. These results demonstrate that p63 protein expression is frequently expressed in a subset of anaplastic large cell lymphoma cases and may be used as a potential tool in the differential diagnosis between anaplastic large cell lymphoma and classical Hodgkin's lymphoma.