Immunophenotypes of Reed-Sternberg cells: a study of 19 cases of Hodgkin's
disease in plastic-embedded sections
TT Casey, SJ Olson, JB Cousar and RD Collins
Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine,
Nashville, TN 37232.
The immunophenotype of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells in Hodgkin's disease (HD)
has not been clearly defined, partly owing to difficulties in studying RS
cells in cell suspensions or identifying them with certainty in frozen
sections. We studied the immunophenotype of RS cells with a recently
developed plastic section immunohistochemical technique on acetone-fixed
tissues that affords superior morphological detail while preserving a wide
variety of lymphoid differentiation antigens. Nineteen cases of HD [16
nodular sclerosing (NS), 2 mixed cellularity (MC), and 1 lymphocyte
depleted (LD)] were embedded in plastic and stained for pan-B, pan-T, and
various T-subset markers, as well as leukocyte common antigen (CD45),
interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor (CD25), and RS cell markers CD15 and CD30. RS
cells were positive for CD45, CD15, CD30, and CD25, except for 3 cases (2
NS, 1 MC) that were CD15 negative and 2 cases (NS) that were CD45 negative.
In 10 cases (NS), RS cells were positive for at least two pan-T-cell
markers and CD4; pan-B cell markers were uniformly negative. RS cells in 6
cases (3 NS, 2 MC, 1 LD) were positive for at least one T-cell marker (CD2)
and one B-cell marker (CD22). Two cases of NSHD showed no T- or B-cell
marking. These data provide further evidence that RS cells in some cases of
NSHD have T-cell phenotypes and that RS cells are not homogeneous in their
immunoreactivity.
Volume 74,
Issue 8,
pp. 2624-2628,
12/01/1989
Copyright © 1989 by The American Society of Hematology
