Hodgkin's disease: a cytokine-producing tumor--a review

Cytokines and hematopoietic growth factors are actively involved in regulation of proliferation, differentiation, and cellular functions of various cell lineages. Each cytokine exhibits pleiotropic biological functions on different target cells and subfamilies of cytokines often have redundant biological effects on the same target cell. Hodgkin's disease represents one of the most common human lymphoma entities, the molecular pathogenesis of which is not well understood. Hodgkin's disease is characterized by the presence of typical, presumed malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells in a hyperplastic background of normal reactive lymphocytes, plasma cells, histiocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and stromal cells. The histopathological presentation and characteristic clinical features of Hodgkin's disease correlate with an unbalanced production of multiple cytokines. Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells express mRNA and proteins of various cytokines, growth factors, and cytokine receptors, implying a predominant role for cytokines in the pathophysiology of Hodgkin's disease as a tumor of cytokine-producing cells.