Serum level of soluble CD30 correlates with the aggressiveness of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is a highly aggressive disease with poor prognosis. CD30(+) cells are frequently observed in lymph node cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of ATL patients. In order to elicit the role of CD30(+) cells in ATL development, we investigated expression of the membrane type of CD30 (mCD30) and the soluble form of CD30 (sCD30) on ATL cells. Both mCD30 and sCD30 are expressed on various numbers of ATL cells in vivo as well as cell lines such as MT-2, L540 and Karpas 299. The level of serum sCD30 in each clinical stage showed an elevated level in patients with acute type (mean +/- standard error; 545.2 +/- 18.6 U/mL) rather than with lymphoma type ATL (327.62 +/- 94.85 U/mL). In four patients whose sera were stored and examined longitudinally, the levels decreased following the response to chemotherapy but not in patients with chemotherapy resistance. Thus, our results imply that sCD30 levels may be another useful marker for the activity and aggressiveness of ATL.