CD163 expression was associated with angiogenesis and shortened survival in patients with uniformly treated classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
BACKGROUND
Recent studies have reported the prognostic value of tissue-associated magrophages (TAMs) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). In addition, TAMs are implicated in the tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we examined the prognostic relevance of TAMs in relation to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and angiogenesis in uniformly treated cases of cHL.


METHODS
Diagnostic tissue from 116 patients with ABVD-treated cHL was evaluated retrospectively by immunohistochemical analysis for CD68, CD163 and VEGF expression and for CD31 expression as a measure of microvessel density (MVD).


RESULTS
High CD163 expression (≥ 35% of cellularity) correlated with VEGF expression (Pearson's Chi-square test, P = 0.008) and MVD (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.310, P<0.001). High CD163 expression was associated with inferior event-free survival (EFS, P = 0.005) and overall survival (OS, P<0.001) in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, high CD163 expression was strongly associated with inferior EFS (P = 0.043) and OS (P = 0.008). Patients with high MVD had a lower OS than those with low MVD, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.071, respectively). While high expression of CD68 was also associated with inferior EFS (P = 0.007), it showed no correlation with VEGF or MVD.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data confirms that CD163 expression provides independent prognostic information in cHL. The correlation of CD163 with VEGF expression and MVD suggests the role of CD163-positive cells in tumor angiogenesis of cHL.
Department of Pathology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea.
Young Wha
YW
Koh
Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Chan-Sik
CS
Park
Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Dok Hyun
DH
Yoon
Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Cheolwon
C
Suh
Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Jooryung
J
Huh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011379:Prognosis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000098902:CD163 Antigen
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000098902:CD163 Antigen; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A