title: Clinical significance of soluble CD30 antigen in the sera of patients with untreated Hodgkin's disease.
abstract: The soluble form of the CD30 antigen (sCD30), an 88-kd glycoprotein that is released by Hodgkin's-derived cell lines in vitro, can be detected in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma, adult (HTLV-1+) T-cell leukemia, rare cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and acute infectious mononucleosis (anti-EBV-IgM+). In a prospective study of 90 consecutive untreated patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's disease who were treated according to the protocols of the German Hodgkin Study group, 22% had detectable levels of sCD30 in their serum. sCD30 was only detected in patients with B symptoms (20 of 44 or 45%), and maximum sCD30 levels (88 U/mL) were found in stage IVB. Of 87 patients evaluable for response, sCD30+ patients had significantly lower rates of complete remission (9 of 20 or 45% v 60 of 67 or 90%; P less than .001) and higher rates of progressive disease (9 of 20 or 45% v 6 of 67 or 9%; P less than .001) than CD30+ patients. Similarly, freedom from treatment failure curves were significantly worse for CD30+ patients (P = .0003). sCD30 disappeared after successful treatment, but increased in patients with progressive disease. It was never detected in patients in complete remission or in healthy controls. We conclude that sCD30 is a valuable marker for disease activity and has prognostic significance in Hodgkin's disease.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik I, University of the Saarland, Homburg/Sarr, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gause
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tschiersch
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Da Costa
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hasenclever
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfreundschuh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000097:blood*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012074:Remission Induction
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen