Assessing the efficacy and tolerability of PET-guided BrECADD versus eBEACOPP in advanced-stage, classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HD21): a randomised, multicentre, parallel, open-label, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Intensified systemic chemotherapy has the highest primary cure rate for advanced-stage, classical Hodgkin lymphoma but this comes with a cost of severe and potentially life long, persisting toxicities. With the new regimen of brentuximab vedotin, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, dacarbazine, and dexamethasone (BrECADD), we aimed to improve the risk-to-benefit ratio of treatment of advanced-stage, classical Hodgkin lymphoma guided by PET after two cycles. METHODS: This randomised, multicentre, parallel, open-label, phase 3 trial was done in 233 trial sites across nine countries. Eligible patients were adults (aged ≤60 years) with newly diagnosed, advanced-stage, classical Hodgkin lymphoma (ie, Ann Arbor stage III/IV, stage II with B symptoms, and either one or both risk factors of large mediastinal mass and extranodal lesions). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to four or six cycles (21-day intervals) of escalated doses of etoposide (200 mg/m2 intravenously on days 1-3), doxorubicin (35 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1), and cyclophosphamide (1250 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1), and standard doses of bleomycin (10 mg/m2 intravenously on day 8), vincristine (1·4 mg/m2 intravenously on day 8), procarbazine (100 mg/m2 orally on days 1-7), and prednisone (40 mg/m2 orally on days 1-14; eBEACOPP) or BrECADD, guided by PET after two cycles. Patients and investigators were not masked to treatment assignment. Hierarchical coprimary objectives were to show (1) improved tolerability defined by treatment-related morbidity and (2) non-inferior efficacy defined by progression-free survival with an absolute non-inferiority margin of 6 percentage points of BrECADD compared with eBEACOPP. An additional test of superiority of progression-free survival was to be done if non-inferiority had been established. Analyses were done by intention to treat; the treatment-related morbidity assessment required documentation of at least one chemotherapy cycle. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02661503). FINDINGS: Between July 22, 2016, and Aug 27, 2020, 1500 patients were enrolled, of whom 749 were randomly assigned to BrECADD and 751 to eBEACOPP. 1482 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. The median age of patients was 31 years (IQR 24-42). 838 (56%) of 1482 patients were male and 644 (44%) were female. Most patients were White (1352 [91%] of 1482). Treatment-related morbidity was significantly lower with BrECADD (312 [42%] of 738 patients) than with eBEACOPP (430 [59%] of 732 patients; relative risk 0·72 [95% CI 0·65-0·80]; p<0·0001). At a median follow-up of 48 months, BrECADD improved progression-free survival with a hazard ratio of 0·66 (0·45-0·97; p=0·035); 4-year progression-free survival estimates were 94·3% (95% CI 92·6-96·1) for BrECADD and 90·9% (88·7-93·1) for eBEACOPP. 4-year overall survival rates were 98·6% (97·7-99·5) and 98·2% (97·2-99·3), respectively. INTERPRETATION: BrECADD guided by PET after two cycles is better tolerated and more effective than eBEACOPP in first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced-stage, classical Hodgkin lymphoma. FUNDING: Takeda Oncology.

Long-term cause-specific mortality in adolescent and young adult Hodgkin lymphoma patients treated with contemporary regimens-A nationwide Danish cohort study.

The documented treatment-induced excess mortality in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has spurred important treatment changes over recent decades. This study aimed to examine mortality among young HL patients treated with contemporary strategies, including historical data comparison. This nationwide study included 1348 HL patients, diagnosed in 1995-2015 and aged 15-40 at diagnosis. Among the patients, 66.5% had Ann Arbor stage I-II and 33.5% had stage III-IV disease. With a median follow-up of 14.76 years, 139 deaths occurred, yielding a 5-year overall survival of 94.6%. Older age, advanced disease, earlier treatment periods and extensive regimens were associated with higher overall mortality risk. The cumulative risk of HL-related death showed an initial sharp rise, with a plateau at 5.3% 10-year post-diagnosis. Deaths due to cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases and second cancers initially had minimal risk, gradually reaching 1.2% and 2.0% at the 20-year mark respectively. HL cases had a 7.5-fold higher mortality hazard than the background population. This study suggests that contemporary HL treatment still poses excess mortality risk, but recent changes have notably reduced overall and cause-specific mortality compared to earlier eras. Balancing treatment efficacy and toxicity remains crucial, but our findings highlight improved outcomes with modern treatment approaches.

Pulmonary diseases in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma relative to a matched background population: A Danish national cohort study.

Late toxicities can impact survivorship in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) with pulmonary toxicity after bleomycin-containing chemotherapy being a concern. The incidence of pulmonary diseases was examined in this Danish population-based study. A total of 1474 adult patients with cHL treated with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine) or BEACOPP (bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, procarbazine and prednisone) between 2000 and 2018 were included along with 7370 age- and sex-matched comparators from the background population. Median follow-up was 8.6 years for the patients. Patients with cHL had increased risk of incident pulmonary diseases (HR 2.91 [95% CI 2.30-3.68]), with a 10-year cumulative risk of 7.4% versus 2.9% for comparators. Excess risks were observed for interstitial lung diseases (HR 15.84 [95% CI 9.35-26.84]) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 1.99 [95% CI 1.43-2.76]), with a 10-year cumulative risk of 4.1% and 3.5% respectively for patients. No excess risk was observed for asthma (HR 0.82 [95% CI 0.43-1.56]). Risk factors for interstitial lung diseases were age ≥60 years, the presence of B-symptoms and low albumin. These findings document a significant burden of pulmonary diseases among patients with cHL and emphasize the importance of diagnostic work-up of pulmonary symptoms.

Proteomic Profiling of Lymph Nodes Differentiates Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma With and Without Skeletal Involvement.

Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) is a highly curable disease, even in advanced stages. Controversy remains over whether bone involvement negatively affects overall and progression-free survival in patients treated with intensive chemotherapy regimens. Whether cases that present with bone lesions harbor specific tumor microenvironmental features is unknown. We investigated protein expression in diagnostic lymph node biopsies from CHL patients with and without skeletal involvement at diagnosis to identify potential markers of skeletal disease. Protein expression patterns in diagnostic formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lymphoma lymph node samples from CHL patients were analyzed by nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Patients were grouped according to skeletal involvement, which was defined as the presence of one or more FDG-avid lesions on a diagnostic FDG-PET/CT scan. Protein profiles identified patients with skeletal disease at diagnosis and showed disrupted cellular pathways, including immune system processes, cell adhesion, and cell growth/survival. Immunohistochemical evaluation also demonstrated differential expressions of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), intercellular adhesion molecule 3 (ICAM3), integrin alpha-X (ITGAX), and calreticulin (CALR). In conclusion, proteomics identified altered protein expression profiles in lymph nodes among CHL cases presenting with disease disseminated to the skeletal system, which implies altered disease pathogenesis for these patients.

The Genetic Profile of Large B-Cell Lymphomas Presenting in the Ocular Adnexa.

To provide insights into targetable oncogenic pathways, this retrospective cohort study investigated the genetic profile of 26 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (DLBCL-NOS), and two patients with high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements (HGBCL) presenting in the ocular adnexa. Pathogenic variants and copy number variations in 128 B-cell lymphoma-relevant genes were analyzed by targeted next-generation sequencing. Genetic subtypes were determined with the LymphGen algorithm. Primary ocular adnexal DLBCL-NOS constituted 50% (n = 14) and was generally characterized by non-germinal center B-cell origin (non-GCB) (n = 8, 57%), and LymphGen MCD subtype (n = 5, 36%). Primary ocular adnexal DLBCL-NOS presented pathogenic variants in genes involved in NF-κB activation and genes which are recurrently mutated in other extranodal lymphomas of non-GCB origin, including MYD88 (n = 4, 29%), CD79B (n = 3, 21%), PIM1 (n = 3, 21%), and TBL1XR1 (n = 3, 21%). Relapsed DLBCL-NOS presenting in the ocular adnexa (n = 6) were all of non-GCB origin and frequently of MCD subtype (n = 3, 50%), presenting with a similar genetic profile as primary ocular adnexal DLBCL-NOS. These results provide valuable insights into genetic drivers in ocular adnexal DLBCL-NOS, offering potential applications in future precision medicine.

Late recurrence of lymphoid malignancies after initial treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma - A study from the Danish Lymphoma Registry.

We analysed a large cohort of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients in order to characterize: (1) the pattern of late recurrence of lymphoid malignancies (LR) after initial treatment for HL over a 35-year period; (2) the clinicopathological parameters influencing the risk of LR; and (3) the outcome of patients experiencing LR. We reviewed data of 3350 HL patients diagnosed in Denmark between 1982 and 2018 and registered in the Danish National Lymphoma Registry (LYFO). LR was defined as a recurrence of lymphoid malignancy at least five years after initial diagnosis. LR occurred in 58 patients, with a cumulative incidence at 10, 15 and 20 years of 2.7%, 4.0% and 5.4% respectively. LR was more frequently observed in patients with nodular lymphocyte-predominant HL (NLPHL) [hazard ratio (HR) 4.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.4-8.4, p < 0.001]. In classical HL (cHL) patients, older age and lymphocytopenia were risk factors for LR with HRs of 1.04 per additional year (95% CI: 1.02-1.06) and 5.6 (95% CI: 2.7-11.5) respectively. Mixed cellularity histological subtype was a risk factor for LR, but only in females, with a HR of 5.4 (95% CI: 1.4-20.4, p = 0.014). In contrast to what was observed in NLPHL, LR in cHL was associated with an almost threefold increased risk of death compared with patients in continuous complete remission. Approximately one fifth (22.4%) of patients with LR experienced a second relapse.

Soluble programmed cell death protein 1 (sPD-1) and the soluble programmed cell death ligands 1 and 2 (sPD-L1 and sPD-L2) in lymphoid malignancies.

BACKGROUND: The programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand 1 and 2 (PD-L1/PD-L2) regulate the immune system, and the checkpoint pathway can be exploited by malignant cells to evade anti-tumor immune response. Soluble forms (sPD-1/sPD-L1/sPD-L2) exist in the peripheral blood, but their biological and clinical significance is unclear. METHOD: Time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (TRIFMA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to measure sPD-1, sPD-L1, and sPD-L2 levels in serum from 131 lymphoma patients and 22 healthy individuals. RESULTS: Patients had higher sPD-1 and sPD-L2 levels than healthy individuals. In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, patients with high International Prognostic Index score had higher sPD-1 levels and sPD-L2 levels correlated with subtype according to cell of origin. Compared to other lymphoma types, follicular lymphoma displayed higher sPD-1 and lower sPD-L1 levels along with lower ligand/receptor ratios. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to simultaneously characterize pretherapeutic sPD-1, sPD-L1, and sPD-L2 in a variety of lymphoma subtypes. The relation between higher sPD-1 levels and adverse prognostic factors suggests a possible biological role and potential clinical usefulness of sPD-1. Moreover, the reverse expression pattern in follicular lymphoma and T-cell lymphoma/leukemia may reflect biological information relevant for immunotherapy targeting the PD-1 pathway.

Focal skeletal FDG uptake indicates poor prognosis in cHL regardless of extent and first-line chemotherapy.

18 F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is used for staging classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) with high sensitivity for skeletal involvement. However, it is unclear whether a single bone lesion carries the same adverse prognosis as multifocal lesions and if this is affected by type of chemotherapy [ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vincristine, dacarbazine) versus BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone)]. We reviewed the clinico-pathological and outcome data from 209 patients with newly diagnosed cHL staged by FDG-PET/CT. Patterns of skeletal/bone marrow uptake (BMU) were divided into 'low' and 'high' diffuse BMU (i.e. without focal lesions), and unifocal or multifocal lesions. Additional separate survival analysis was performed, taking type of chemotherapy into account. Forty patients (19·2%) had skeletal lesions (20 unifocal, 20 multifocal). The 3-year progression-free-survival (PFS) was 80% for patients with 'low BMU', 87% for 'high BMU', 69% for 'unifocal' and 51% for 'multifocal' lesions; median follow-up was 38 months. The presence of bone lesions, both uni- and multifocal, was associated with significantly inferior PFS (log rank P = 0·0001), independent of chemotherapy type. Thus, increased diffuse BMU should not be considered as a risk factor in cHL, whereas unifocal or multifocal bone lesions should be regarded as important predictors of adverse outcome, irrespective of the chemotherapy regimen used.

Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents and young adults - a comparative study of clinical presentation and treatment outcome.

BACKGROUND: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treatment protocols for children, adolescents and young adults traditionally differ, but the biological and clinical justification for this remains uncertain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We compared age-dependent clinical presentation and treatment and outcome for 1072 classical HL patients 0-24 years diagnosed in Denmark (1990-2010) and Sweden (1992-2009) in pediatric (n = 315, Denmark <15 years, Sweden <18 years) or adult departments (n = 757). Distribution of clinical characteristics was assessed with Pearson's chi2-test and Mantel-Haenszel trend test. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analyses. Hazard ratios (HR) were used to compare the different treatment groups and calculated using Cox regression. RESULTS: Children (0-9 years) less often presented with advanced disease than adolescents (10-17 years) and young adults (18-24 years) (stage IIB-IV: children 32% vs. adolescents 50%, and adults 55%; p < .005). No variation in overall survival (OS) was seen between pediatric and adult departments or by country. Danish pediatric patients received radiotherapy (36%) less frequently than Swedish pediatric patients (71%) (p < .0001). Ten-year event-free survival (EFS) was lower among Danish pediatric patients (0-14 years) (0.79; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70-0.86) than among Swedish pediatric patients (0-17 years) (0.88; 95% CI 0.83-0.92), HR (1.93; 95% CI 1.08-3.46). A similar pattern was seen between adult patients in the two countries: Denmark 10-year EFS 0.85 (95% CI 0.81-0.88), Sweden 0.88 (95% CI 0.84-0.91), adjusted HR 1.51 (95% CI 1.03-2.22). CONCLUSION: Adolescents and young adults shared similar clinical presentation suggesting a rationale of harmonized treatment for these groups. Both adult and pediatric protocols provided high OS with no significant difference between the departments. The less frequent use of radiotherapy in Danish pediatric patients corresponded to a lower EFS, but comparable OS in all groups confirmed effective rescue strategies for the relapsing patients.

Tumour-associated mast cells in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma: correlation with histological subtype, other tumour-infiltrating inflammatory cell subsets and outcome.

The tumour microenvironment in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) is characterised by a minor population of neoplastic Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells within a heterogeneous background of non-neoplastic bystanders cells, including mast cells. The number of infiltrating mast cells in cHL has been reported to correlate with poor prognosis. We used immunohistochemistry to assess the degree of tumour-infiltrating mast cells in cHL tissue microarrays and correlated this with clinico-pathological features and prognosis in a cohort of homogeneously treated patients with Hodgkin's disease. A high degree of tumour mast cells was associated with nodular sclerosis (NS) subtype histology (P = 0.0002). Moreover, the number of mast cells was inversely correlated with the numbers of CD68+ and CD163+ macrophages (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.003, respectively) and with the number of granzyme+ cytotoxic cells (P = 0.004). The degree of mast cell infiltration was not a prognostic factor in cHL of nodular sclerosis subtype. In contrast, in mixed cellularity cHL a high number of intratumoral mast cells correlated with significantly poorer outcome both in terms of overall (P = 0.03) and event-free survival (P = 0.01). Further studies are warranted into the biological mechanisms underlying this adverse outcome and their possible therapeutic implications.

Relationship of intratumoural protein expression patterns to age and Epstein-Barr virus status in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

In Western countries, the age distribution of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) follows a characteristic bimodal curve showing an early and a late peak at approximately 35 and 70 yr, respectively. Furthermore, the presence of latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome in the Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg cells, the tumour cell population of classical HL (cHL), has been found to have adverse prognostic impact in elderly, but not in younger cHL patients. We have characterised the protein expression in tumour tissue samples from younger (≤ 55 yr) and elderly (>55 yr) cHL patients and correlated the findings with EBV status. Differentially expressed proteins according to patients' age as well as tumoural EBV status belonged to different biological functional domains, such as apoptosis, cytoskeletal organisation, response to oxygen levels and regulation of catabolic/metabolic processes. The differential expression of selected proteins, cytosolic aminopeptidase, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K, serotransferrin and alpha-1-antitrypsin was further validated by Western blot analysis. Discovery-based proteomics characterising biological features distinctive for subsets of cHL patients may be useful for the identification of novel biomarkers with potential therapeutic relevance. An evaluation of the prognostic impact of protein expression pattern in general and individually expressed proteins in particular is warranted.

Machine Learning-Based Survival Prediction Models for Progression-Free and Overall Survival in Advanced-Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma.

PURPOSE: Patients diagnosed with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (aHL) have historically been risk-stratified using the International Prognostic Score (IPS). This study investigated if a machine learning (ML) approach could outperform existing models when it comes to predicting overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study used patient data from the Danish National Lymphoma Register for model development (development cohort). The ML model was developed using stacking, which combines several predictive survival models (Cox proportional hazard, flexible parametric model, IPS, principal component, penalized regression) into a single model, and was compared with two versions of IPS (IPS-3 and IPS-7) and the newly developed aHL international prognostic index (A-HIPI). Internal model validation was performed using nested cross-validation, and external validation was performed using patient data from the Swedish Lymphoma Register and Cancer Registry of Norway (validation cohort). RESULTS: In total, 707 and 760 patients with aHL were included in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. Examining model performance for OS in the development cohort, the concordance index (C-index) for the ML model, IPS-7, IPS-3, and A-HIPI was found to be 0.789, 0.608, 0.650, and 0.768, respectively. The corresponding estimates in the validation cohort were 0.749, 0.700, 0.663, and 0.741. For PFS, the ML model achieved the highest C-index in both cohorts (0.665 in the development cohort and 0.691 in the validation cohort). The time-varying AUCs for both the ML model and the A-HIPI were consistently higher in both cohorts compared with the IPS models within the first 5 years after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The new prognostic model for aHL on the basis of ML techniques demonstrated a substantial improvement compared with the IPS models, but yielded a limited improvement in predictive performance compared with the A-HIPI.

Proteomic analysis identifies galectin-1 as a predictive biomarker for relapsed/refractory disease in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Considerable effort has been spent identifying prognostic biomarkers in classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). The aim of our study was to search for possible prognostic parameters in advanced-stage cHL using a proteomics-based strategy. A total of 14 cHL pretreatment tissue samples from younger, advanced-stage patients were included. Patients were grouped according to treatment response. Proteins that were differentially expressed between the groups were analyzed using 2D-PAGE and identified by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Selected proteins were validated using Western blot analysis. One of the differentially expressed proteins, the carbohydrate-binding protein galectin-1 (Gal-1), was further analyzed using immunohistochemistry HC and its expression was correlated with clinicopathologic and outcome parameters in 143 advanced-stage cHL cases. At the univariate level, high Gal-1 expression in the tumor microenvironment was correlated with poor event-free survival (P = .02). Among younger (≤ 61 years) patients, high Gal-1 was correlated with poorer overall and event-free survival (both P = .007). In this patient group and at the multivariate level, high Gal-1 expression retained a significant predictive impact on event-free survival. Therefore, in addition to its functional role in cHL-induced immunosuppression, Gal-1 is also associated with an adverse clinical outcome in this disease.

Salvage Therapy in Early Relapse of T-Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoma Using Daratumumab/Nelarabine Combination: Two Consecutive Cases.

Treatment of early relapses of T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma is often unsuccessful. We tested an experimental regimen containing daratumumab and nelarabine in two young patients with early relapses of T lymphoblastic lymphoma and T-ALL, respectively. Both patients achieved a deep complete remission. Combining daratumumab with chemotherapy may have a role in relapsing T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma.

Factors associated with risk and prognosis of intensive care unit admission in patients with acute leukemia: a Danish nationwide cohort study.

Identifying risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) admission in acute leukemia (AL) patients may guide decision-making and improve prognosis. We included all adult AL patients receiving high-intensive chemotherapy in Denmark from 2005 to 2016. We examined risk factors [crude and adjusted (a) relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)] and calculated RRs of death after 1-, 3-, and 5-years in ICU-admitted patients compared with matched cohorts. In 1417 AML and 306 ALL patients, the 1-year risk of ICU admission was 28.1% for AML and 26.4% for ALL patients, with the majority related to the first course of chemotherapy. Performance status >1 was associated with increased risk. The 1-year mortality was higher in ICU-admitted patients (AML: 69.7 vs. 35.0% [aRR 2.74;CI = 2.17-3.47]; ALL 65.0 vs. 20.0% [aRR 3.04;CI = 1.54-6.02]). The excess mortality decreased with time. In this study, performance status was associated with increased risk of ICU admission and identifies high-risk patients. ICU admission was associated with high mortality, especially within the first year.

Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma Refractory for ABVD Treatment Is Characterized by Pathologically Activated Signal Transduction Pathways as Revealed by Proteomic Profiling.

In classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), the tumour microenvironment (TME) is of major pathological relevance. The paucity of neoplastic cells makes it important to study the entire TME when searching for prognostic biomarkers. Cure rates in cHL have improved markedly over the last several decades, but patients with primary refractory disease still show inferior survival. We performed a proteomic comparison of pretreatment tumour tissue from ABVD treatment-refractory versus ABVD treatment-sensitive cHL patients, in order to identify biological differences correlating with treatment outcome. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissues from 36 patients with cHL, 15 with treatment-refractory disease, and 21 with treatment-sensitive disease, were processed for proteomic investigation. Label-free quantification nano liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was performed on the tissues. A total of 3920 proteins were detected and quantified between the refractory and sensitive groups. This comparison revealed several subtle but significant differences in protein expression which could identify subcluster characteristics of the refractory group. Bioinformatic analysis of the biological differences indicated that a number of pathologically activated signal transduction pathways are disturbed in ABVD treatment-refractory cHL.

Tumor-infiltrating macrophages correlate with adverse prognosis and Epstein-Barr virus status in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized by a minority of neoplastic cells surrounded by a heterogeneous background population of non-neoplastic cells including lymphoma-associated macrophages. High levels of expression of both the monocyte/macrophage lineage-associated antigens CD68 and CD163 have been suggested to have pro-tumor effects. The aim of our study was to correlate expression of CD68 and CD163 with the clinico-pathological features and prognosis of a cohort of patients with previously untreated Hodgkin's lymphoma. DESIGN AND METHODS: A tissue microarray was constructed from paraffin-embedded tumor tissues from 288 cases of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. CD68 and CD163 expression was assessed immunohistochemically and the degree of macrophage infiltration within the tumor was scored using point grid counting. Clinical data were obtained from clinical records. RESULTS: The patients' median age was 37 years (range, 6-86 years). The male to female ratio was 1.2. In classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (n = 288) high CD68 and CD163 expression correlated, at the univariate level, with poorer overall survival (P=0.002 and P=0.03, respectively) and event-free survival (P=0.03 and P=0.04, respectively). At the multivariate level, high CD68 expression remained significantly predictive of overall survival (P=0.004). In addition, we demonstrated that both high CD68 and CD163 expression were associated with the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in the neoplastic cells (P=0.001 and P=0.0002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, high expression of the macrophage/monocyte-related antigens CD68 and CD163 correlates with adverse outcome and with the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in the tumor cell population.

[Lymphoid malignancy diagnostics].

The 2016 update of the WHO classification update of lymphoid malignancies includes new entities and modifications, which affect current treatment paradigms and provide a framework for new interventional strategies, as summarised in this review. With the increasing understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms behind lymphoid malignancies involving surface markers, signaling transduction pathways, epigenetic modulations as well as the tumour micro-environment, novel agents and immune therapeutic strategies have been developed. These precision medicine approaches are gradually improving the prognosis of lymphoma patients. Methods reliably assessing the quality of clinical responses also contribute to this general prognostic improvement.

[Lymphoid malignancy treatment].

Recent technological advances have led to an increasing understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms behind lymphoid malignancies. Based on his new knowledge, novel agents and immune therapeutic strategies have been developed. The combination of diagnostic, therapeutic and surveillance-related precision medicine approaches may eventually represent the key for a substantial improvement in both life expectancy and quality of life, also for those patient groups presently characterised by the highest unmet clinical need, as argued in this review.