Aberrant cytoplasmic expression of cyclin B1 protein and its correlation with EBV-LMP1, P53 and P16(INK4A) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma in China.

The relationships between the expression of cyclin B1, EBV-LMP1, P53 and P16(INK4A) in Chinese classical Hodgkin lymphoma are unknown and need exploring. Samples of classical Hodgkin lymphoma from 60 Chinese patients were analyzed for the expression of cyclin B1, EBV-LMP1, P53 and P16(INK4A) proteins by immunohistochemistry. Cyclin B1 protein was overexpressed in 90.0% (54/60) of this group of classical Hodgkin lymphoma, staining mainly and strongly in cytoplasm but also sparsely and weakly in nucleus of the Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells. EBV-LMP1, P53 and P16(INK4A) were overexpressed in 85.0%, 96.7% and 71.7% of Hodgkin lymphoma, respectively. EBV-LMP1, P53 and P16(INK4A) were was noted in the nucleus of HRS cells. Microscopically, cyclin B1 and P53 staining distinguished the HRS cells from the complex background of lymphocytes. Cyclin B1 was positively correlated with EBV-LMP1(P < 0.001) and P53(P < 0.001), but was inversely related to P16(INK4A) (P < 0.05). It is suggested that overexpression of cyclin B1 could play an important role in the evolution of classical Hodgkin lymphoma, and cyclin B1 may be considered as a potential adjunct marker to identify HRS cells in diagnosis and be served as Hodgkin lymphoma-associated antigen in the near future.