Expression of HLA class Ⅰ and HLA class Ⅱ by tumor cells in Chinese classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients / 白血病·淋巴瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective In Caucasian populations, the tumor cells of Epstein Barr virus (EBV)-positive classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) patients more frequently express HLA class Ⅰ and HLA class Ⅱ molecules compared to EBV-negative cHL patients. HLA expression (in relation to EBV) in Asian cHL patients has not been previously investigated. Methods 145 cHL patients with formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue blocks available from Beijing, China were randomly selected. Hematoxylin & Eosin-stained slides were used to reclassify the histological subtypes according to the WHO classification. EBV status was determined by visualization of EBER in tumor cells using in situ hybridization. Membranous expression of HLA molecules was detected by immunohistochemistry using antibodies HC-10 (class Ⅰ heavy chain) and antiβ2-microglobulin for HLA class Ⅰ, and CR3/43 for HLA class Ⅱ. Results EBV (+) tumor cells were observed in 40 % (58/145) of the cHL patients. As expected, the percentage of EBV(+) cases was much higher in the mixed cellularity subtype (71%) than that in the nodular sclerosis subtype (16 %) (P ＜0.001). The expression of HLA class Ⅰ was observed in 79 % of the EBV (+) cHL cases and in 30 % of the EBV (-) cases (P ＜0.001). For HLA class Ⅱ, 52 % of EBV(+) cHL cases were positive, compared to 43 % in EBV(-) cases (P =0.277). Conclusion The results in China population were similar to that in the Caucasian population for HLA class Ⅰ, but not for HLA class Ⅱ.