Hodgkin's disease, lymphocyte-predominant type: immunoreactivity with B-cell antibodies

Utilizing the monoclonal antibodies L26 (a new antibody possessing immunoreactivity with B-lymphocytes in paraffin-embedded tissue), LN1, LN2, and Leu-M1, 44 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) were examined for the presence of immunoreactivity in Reed-Sternberg (R-S) cells by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) technique. In 16 cases of lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's disease (LPHD), the L&H variants of R-S cells exhibited a different pattern of staining compared to R-S cells in other histologic types (total, 28 cases: 11, mixed cellularity; 8, nodular sclerosing; 6, lymphocyte depleted; 3, unclassified). L&H variants in LPHD were immunoreactive for L26 and LN1 in 15 and 14 cases, respectively, whereas R-S cells in the remaining types were negative or rarely positive (3, L26; 2, LN1). Leu-M1 was strongly positive in 27 of 28 cases of non-LPHD versus only 4 of 16 in LPHD. LN2 was reactive in virtually all cases (43 of 44). These findings suggest the possibility that the R-S cells of LPHD are derived from a different lineage than R-S cells in other histologic types of HD or that the latter have somehow lost the ability to express the antigens defined by L26 and LN1. Finally, based on immunologic and morphologic findings in this study, the similarities seen between the nodular and diffuse subtypes of LPHD are felt to favor a close relationship between the two subtypes.