Background
Advances in the understanding of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) show various functions of infiltrating immune cells and cytokines in relation to clinical outcomes. The expression of CD163 and c-Met has been suggested to have a role in lymphoid malignancy. Thus, we evaluated the expressions of CD163, c-Met, and serum free light chain (sFLC) in relation to the clinicopathological features of patients with advanced classical HL (cHL).
Conclusion
In advanced cHL, increased expression of CD163 and c-Met showed a significant association with adverse prognostic parameters and poor response to treatment. Pretreatment high sFLC level also correlated with poor risk factors, suggesting its use as a candidate prognostic marker. A comprehensive approach for prognostic markers might represent a step towards developing a tailored therapeutic approach for HL.
Methods
We assessed the expression of CD163 and c-Met in 34 patients with cHL through immunohistochemistry on the lymph node biopsy sections and the levels of pretreatment sFLC were estimated using ELISA.
Results
High CD163 expression correlated with increased age, B symptoms, International Prognostic Score (IPS) ≥3, mixed cellularity subtype, and low response to treatment. Further, high c-Met expression correlated with increased age at diagnosis, leukocytosis, B symptoms, and lower chance to achieve complete remission. The sFLC levels correlated with increased age at diagnosis, lymphopenia, IPS ≥3, B symptoms, and lower complete remission rates.