title: Growth vs. DNA strand breaks in Hodgkin's disease: impaired proliferative ability of Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells.
abstract: We re-appraised the cell renewal pattern in Hodgkin's disease (HD), considering that most, though not all, Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (H-RS) cells exhibit abortive mitoses and that a substantial fraction of these exhibits DNA damage suggestive of imminent or actual cell death. Using combined immunohistochemistry and in situ end-labeling to detect strand breaks, the percentage per case of CD30+ (mainly H-RS) cells with DNA fragmentation (DNA fragmentation index [DFI]) was estimated. For each case, we registered the mitotic index (MI) of CD30+ cells and the percentage of Ki-67+ atypical large cells. To quantify the sum of our parameters for mitosis, whether successful or not, and DNA damage, we introduced the kinetic event index (KEI = MI + DFI). Only DFI and KEI distinguished significantly between mixed cellularity and nodular sclerosis HD. The values for MI and DFI, and therefore for KEI, CD30+ and CD30- small lymphoid cells were proportional. The percentages of Ki-67+ large atypical cells (median 50%) did not correlate significantly with either MIs or DFIs of CD30+ cells. Cluster analysis revealed the existence, independent of histological subtype, of 2 large groups of HD with different KEIs. Our findings suggest that cell deletion plays an important role in HD. Further, it appears that proliferation-associated antigens in H-RS cells do not reflect successful cell production in this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathologic Anatomy and Histology, University of Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spina
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leoncini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Close
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Megha
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pacenti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pileri
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sabattini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laissue
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cottier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002455:Cell Division; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016539:Reed-Sternberg Cells / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D017730:Ki-1 Antigen