Coexpression of CD15 and CD20 by Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin's disease.
The immunophenotype of the Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin's disease is heterogeneous among different cases; this heterogeneity has contributed to the continuing uncertainty regarding the normal counterpart of the Reed-Sternberg cell. In this study, the authors demonstrate coexpression of the B-cell marker, CD20, and the granulocyte associated antigen, CD15, by Reed-Sternberg cells in three of 20 cases of nodular sclerosis and mixed cellularity Hodgkin's disease using a double-labelling technique in one case and staining of serial sections in three cases. Additionally, the authors found that expression of CD20 occurred more often in tumors with a monomorphous proliferation of mononuclear and binucleate Hodgkin's and Reed-Sternberg cells, without numerous eosinophils or polymorphonuclear neutrophils. In contrast, expression of CD15 by Reed-Sternberg cells was associated with a greater granulocyte infiltrate. The presence or absence of fibrosis, plasma cells, and histiocytes did not correlate with antigen expression. These results suggest that there may be a continuum of antigen expression by Reed-Sternberg cells, with some cells expressing CD20, some CD15, and others expressing both antigens; cells coexpressing both CD15 and CD20 may represent an unstable intermediate in the process of antigen switching. The possibility that antigen expression by the neoplastic cells in a given case may modulate depending on the background infiltrate could explain the heterogeneity of immunophenotype among cases of Hodgkin's disease.
Zukerberg
L R
LR
James Homer Wright Pathology Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
Collins
A B
AB
Ferry
J A
JA
Harris
N L
NL
D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis*; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000032:analysis*; D002452:Cell Count; D006644:Histiocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000473:pathology
D015703:Antigens, CD; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors