The immunophenotype of Reed-Sternberg cells. A study of 50 cases of Hodgkin's disease using fixed frozen tissues.

The authors analyzed 50 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) with a panel of antibodies which detect B-cell and T-cell specific markers and activation antigens using a sensitive immunocytochemical technique and paraformaldehyde-lysine-periodate (PLP) fixed-frozen tissues. In 60% of cases either T-cell or B-cell specific antigens were detected on Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. Most T-cell cases were of nodular sclerosing (NS) and mixed cellularity (MC) type (65% and 30%, respectively) and most B-cell cases were either of NS or lymphocyte predominant (LP) type (55% and 45%, respectively). Leukocyte common antigen (LCA) was usually negative on RS cells in NS, but was present in approximately 50% of the cases of MC and LP types. Almost all cases were positive for the CD30 antigen (Ki-1). Most cases were also positive for CD15 (LeuM1) with the exception of the LP type. Activation antigens (Ia, CD25, T9) were expressed in a high proportion of cases regardless of subtype. The results suggest that most cases of HD are histogenetically derived from activated T-cells or B-cells.