Prognostic Implication of Semi-quantitative Immunohistochemical Assessment of CD20 Expression in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.
- Author:
Chang Hwan CHOI
1
;
Young Hoon PARK
;
Joo Han LIM
;
Suk Jin CHOI
;
Lucia KIM
;
In Suh PARK
;
Jee Young HAN
;
Joon Mee KIM
;
Young Chae CHU
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Antigen, CD20; Lymphoma, large B-cell; Immunohistochemistry; Tissue array analysis
- MeSH: Antigens, CD20; B-Lymphocytes*; Cyclophosphamide; Diagnosis; Doxorubicin; Drug Therapy; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lymphoma, B-Cell*; Prednisone; ROC Curve; Tissue Array Analysis; Vincristine; Rituximab
- From:Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine 2016;50(2):96-103
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Immunohistochemical demonstration of CD20 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is prerequisite not only for the diagnosis but also for assigning patients to rituximab-containing chemotherapy. However, little is known about the impact of abundance of CD20 expression assessed by immunohistochemistry on the clinical outcome of DLBCL. We performed a semi-quantitative immunohistochemical analysis of CD20 expression in DLBCL to examine the prognostic implication of the level of CD20 expression. METHODS: Pre-treatment diagnostic tissue samples from 48 DLBCL patients who were treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) regimen were represented in a tissue microarray and immunostained for CD20. The relative abundance of CD20 expression was semi-quantitatively scored using a web-based ImmunoMembrane plug-in. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine a prognostically relevant cut-off score in order to dichotomize the patients into CD20-high versus CD20-low groups. RESULTS: The levels of CD20 expression were heterogeneous among the patients, with a wide and linear distribution of scores. Patients in CD20-low group showed significantly poor clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of CD20 expression in DLBCL are heterogeneous among the patients with DLBCL. A subgroup of the patients with CD20 expression levels below the cut-off score showed poor clinical outcome.
