2023, Volume 16, Issue 8, pp 1201 – 1210

Tumor microenvironment in Hodgkin lymphoma: novel prognostic factors for assessing disease evolution

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding Author: Marilena Stoian Clinic of Internal Medicine, Dr. I. Cantacuzino Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania Email: marilenastoian@yahoo.com

Abstract

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has become one of the most curable hematological neoplasia. Clinical and biological factors remain the main pillars guiding therapeutic strategies in HL. Recent studies have improved our understanding of the phenotype, the characteristics of histogenesis, and other possible mechanisms of lymphomagenesis, including the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Tumor cells manipulate the microenvironment, allowing them to develop their malignant phenotype and evade the attack of the host’s immune response so that the interaction between tumor cells and the reactive microenvironment determines not only the histological features but also the clinical-pathological characteristics and prognosis of these patients – essential for the development of future therapies targeting various other cellular components of the tumor microenvironment. This article aimed to evaluate the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and malignant cells using histopathology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques to highlight the association of EBV and to study the expression of characteristic antigens in malignant and non-malignant cells within the tumor mass (overexpression of BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) in malignant cells, presence of PD1 (Programmed cell death Protein 1) on T lymphocytes, CD68+ macrophages in the tumor microenvironment, and presence of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). The analysis of the data collected in this paper highlights several key parameters with prognostic value and statistical significance: the EBV infection at diagnosis, its association with low-intensity BCL2(+), the presence of CD68 with rosette formation, and the identification of specific vascularization patterns. The development of prognostic systems that take into account the integration of biological prognostic markers seems essential for a better risk stratification.

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About this article

PMC ID: 10652678
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2023-0239

Article Publishing Date (print): 8 2023
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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