High content of Langerhans cells in malignant lymphoma--incidence and significance.

We describe 25 patients, 14 with classical Hodgkin lymphoma and 11 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in all of whom an excess of Langerhans cells was evident. Except for the first three cases, in which the excess of Langerhans cells was identified on routine slides, the remaining cases were disclosed by actively investigating lymphomas with excess of CD68+ histiocytes and performing CD1a and S-100 protein immunostains. Although no clonality study was performed on the Langerhans cells, we endorse the view which states that in the above association, the Langerhans cells are polyclonal. Fourteen cases of Hodgkin lymphoma with a large number of Langerhans cells were identified in a cohort of 231 classical Hodgkin lymphomas. We compared the features of classical Hodgkin lymphoma with abundant Langerhans cells with those without Langerhans cells. Our analysis reveals that Hodgkin lymphoma with Langerhans cell excess shows greater LMP1/EBV expression (P = .007) and lower p53 expression (P = .042) in the Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells but is not associated with a poorer outcome.