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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Flow-sorting and Exome Sequencing of the Reed-Sternberg Cells of Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
Published on: June 10, 2017
High CD20+ background cells predict a favorable outcome in classical Hodgkin lymphoma and antagonize CD68+
Luigi Panico1, Valentina Tenneriello, Fioravante Ronconi
1Unit of Pathology, Hospital S. G. Moscati , Avellino , Italy.
Insights
High CD20+ background cells (CD20BG) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) correlate with better survival outcomes. Conversely, low CD20BG combined with high tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) indicates a high-risk disease group.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Oncology
- Pathology
Background:
- The tumor microenvironment significantly influences classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) progression.
- Previous studies indicated a potential prognostic role for tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in cHL.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prognostic significance of CD20+ background cells (CD20BG) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL).
- To evaluate the combined prognostic impact of CD20BG and TAMs in cHL patients.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze CD20+ cells in 131 cHL cases.
- Patients were scored based on CD20BG and TAM counts.
Main Results:
- High CD20BG was significantly correlated with longer overall survival (OS) and improved progression-free survival (PFS).
- High CD20BG emerged as an independent prognostic factor for PFS and OS in multivariate analysis.
- A combination of low CD20BG and high TAMs was associated with significantly reduced PFS and OS.
Conclusions:
- CD20+ cells in the cHL microenvironment appear to have a favorable prognostic role.
- The interplay between CD20BG and TAMs can identify high-risk cHL patient groups.
Abstract:
We studied by immunohistochemistry the background CD20 + cells in 131 cases of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). High CD20 + dispersed cells (CD20BG) showed a significant correlation with longer overall survival (OS) and a trend toward improved progression-free survival (PFS). At multivariate analysis high CD20BG was also an independent prognostic factor of improved PFS and OS. The prognostic role of CD20BG seems to be opposite with respect to tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) we studied previously in most cases of the series. We scored patients on the basis of the respective CD20BG and TAM count and found that the combination of low CD20BG and high TAMs was related to a significantly reduced PFS and OS at univariate and multivariate analysis. Microenvironment CD20 + cells seem to play a favorable prognostic role in cHL. Depletion of CD20 + cells together with an increase of TAMs identifies a group of patients with high-risk disease.
