Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026
An Efficient and Simple Method to Establish NK and T Cell Lines from Patients with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection
Published on: March 30, 2018
Clinicopathological Study of Hodgkin Lymphoma in Relation to Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) Expression and
Arifa B Laskar1, Jaya Mishra1, Yookarin Khonglah1
1Pathology, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, IND.
Introduction:
T-cell anergy leads to upregulation and activation of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, contributing to immune tolerance and the evasion of immune surveillance. Many cancers exploit this by expressing PD-L1 in neoplastic or non-neoplastic tumor microenvironment cells. Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is notable for high PD-L1 expression, often associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in tumor cells. New therapies target this pathway. EBV gene products, like latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1), can increase PD-L1 expression. Our study examined PD-L1 expression in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells in HL patients, comparing it to EBV presence and clinical data.
Objective:
The objective of this study is to study the clinicopathological characteristics of HL in relation to PD-L1 expression and EBV LMP-1 status.
Materials And Methods:
This ambispective study examined lymph node excision samples from 40 HL patients diagnosed between January 2014 and January 2024. Using immunohistochemistry, we evaluated PD-L1 presence in HRS cells, assessing the intensity and frequency of PD-L1 expression. We also detected EBV using the LMP-1 antibody. A non-parametric chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.
Results:
A total of 82.5% (33/40) of cases had PD-L1 expression in HRS cells, with 65% (26/40) showing LMP-1 expression. LMP-1 expression shows a significant correlation with B symptoms and the histological subtypes of HL (p-value < 0.05). Similarly, PD-L1 expression is significantly correlated with B symptoms. Notably, 84.6% (22/26) of cases positive for LMP-1 also exhibit PD-L1 expression. However, EBV positivity was statistically significant when considering different histological subtypes.
Conclusion:
PD-L1 and LMP-1 positivity are linked to B symptoms with elevated PD-L1 expression in LMP-1-positive cases of HL, suggesting EBV-driven immune evasion. These results underscore the importance of considering HL subtypes and EBV status when evaluating biomarkers. Incorporating EBV and PD-L1 targeted therapies could offer more effective, personalized treatment approaches, particularly for EBV-positive HL cases.
