BACKGROUND: Advances in the understanding of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) show various functions of infiltrating immune cells and cytokines in relation to clinical outcomes. The expression of CD163 and c-Met has been suggested to have a role in lymphoid malignancy. Thus, we evaluated the expressions of CD163, c-Met, and serum free light chain (sFLC) in relation to the clinicopathological features of patients with advanced classical HL (cHL). METHODS: We assessed the expression of CD163 and c-Met in 34 patients with cHL through immunohistochemistry on the lymph node biopsy sections and the levels of pretreatment sFLC were estimated using ELISA. RESULTS: High CD163 expression correlated with increased age, B symptoms, International Prognostic Score (IPS) > or =3, mixed cellularity subtype, and low response to treatment. Further, high c-Met expression correlated with increased age at diagnosis, leukocytosis, B symptoms, and lower chance to achieve complete remission. The sFLC levels correlated with increased age at diagnosis, lymphopenia, IPS > or =3, B symptoms, and lower complete remission rates. CONCLUSION: In advanced cHL, increased expression of CD163 and c-Met showed a significant association with adverse prognostic parameters and poor response to treatment. Pretreatment high sFLC level also correlated with poor risk factors, suggesting its use as a candidate prognostic marker. A comprehensive approach for prognostic markers might represent a step towards developing a tailored therapeutic approach for HL.
Biopsy ; Cytokines ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leukocytosis ; Light ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphopenia ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic protocols used in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are widely variable, and glucocorticoids (GCs) are essential components in ALL treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the distribution of prominent glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene polymorphic variants among adult ALL patients. We also investigated the association between GR messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) isoform expressions and the response to chemotherapy. METHODS: Fifty-two newly diagnosed Philadelphia-negative adult ALL patients and 30 healthy control subjects were enrolled in this study. Genotyping was carried out using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. GR mRNA isoform expressions were assayed by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: ALL patients in this study had a median age of 34 years (range, 18-75). GRalpha expression was associated with complete remission (P=0.03), while GRgamma mRNA expression was significantly higher in GC resistant patients (P=0.032) and in non-responders (P=0.019). However, there were no significant associations with GC resistance. The BclI polymorphic variant of the GR gene was the most frequent in adult ALL patients and was not associated with the GC response. Both higher GRalpha expression and lower GRgamma expression were associated with achievement of complete remission, while higher GRgamma expression was associated with GC-resistance. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the level of GR isoform expression may be useful in predicting GC response, achievement of complete remission, and better event-free survival in ALL patients. However, further evaluation with a larger cohort of patients is warranted.
Adult* ; Cohort Studies ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Glucocorticoids ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Glucocorticoid* ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger