Integrating Flow Cytometry in the Diagnostic Work of HIV-Associated Hodgkin's Lymphomas

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is prevalent worldwide and typically presents symptoms like sudden pain, swelling, and weight loss. Classical HL (cHL) is largely treatable with modern risk-adapted and response-based therapy. cHL represents one of the most common malignancies occurring during the course of evolution in patients living with HIV. The present manuscript aimed to present the diagnostic work-up with an emphasis on flow cytometry in patients with HIV-associated lymphoma, of important clinical benefit both in the HIV-endemic setting as well as in state-of-the-art pathology departments. Three clinical cases of HIV patients, including HIV-associated cHL, are presented in the chapter dedicated to HIV-induced lymphomas diagnosed by FC, as Supporting Information, to support the particularities of the abundance of clonal B-cell populations among different types of HIV-related lymphomas. This adds to the proof-of-concept that the specific antibody panel design may help practitioners in discriminating among similar subtypes of HIV-associated lymphomas. Recent data emphasise the importance of FC detection of cHL rapidly and effectively, adding diagnostic value to these small biopsies. FC is an important tool for clinical decision-making in the management of HL patients, providing a noninvasive and accurate biomarker evaluation. For these considerations, we can conclude that FC is a very useful research tool, and the clinical cases presented in this paper indicate their importance in the rapid diagnosis of cHL as well.