Blood, 1 February 2001, Vol. 97, No. 3, pp. 818-821
BRIEF REPORT
Evidence that Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin
disease do not represent cell fusions
Ralf Küppers,
Andreas Bräuninger,
Markus Müschen,
Verena Distler,
Martin-Leo Hansmann, and
Klaus Rajewsky
From the Institute for Genetics and the Department of
Internal Medicine I, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; and the
Department of Pathology, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main,
Germany.
In most cases, Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of
classical Hodgkin disease (HD) carry rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and thus derive from B cells. In rare cases, HRS cells originate from T cells. However, based on the unusual immunophenotype of HRS
cells, often showing coexpression of markers typical for
different hematopoetic lineages, and the regular detection of numerical chromosomal abnormalities, it has been speculated that HRS cells might represent cell fusions. Five cases of HD with 2 rearranged IgH
alleles were analyzed for the presence of additional IgH
alleles in germline configuration as a potential footprint of a
cell fusion between a B and a non-B cell. Similarly, one case of
T-cell-derived HD with biallelic T-cell receptor 
(TCR)
rearrangements was studied for the presence of unrearranged TCR
alleles. In none of the 6 cases was evidence for additional IgH (or
TCR) alleles obtained, strongly arguing against a role of cell
fusion in HRS cell generation.
