Anti-Leu-3a antibody reactivity with Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease.

Eleven cases of Hodgkin's disease were studied using ten monoclonal antibodies. Our findings indicated that Reed-Sternberg cells and Hodgkin's cells were distinctly stained for HLA-DR and LN-2 in all the cases, for Leu-3a in six cases, and for Leu-M1 in eight cases. They were not stained for Leu-1, Leu-2a, Leu-4, OKT3, OKT6, or LN-1 in any of the cases. Although these results remain insufficient to find any conclusions concerning the nature of Reed-Sternberg cells and Hodgkin's cells, Leu-3a reactivity may represent the aberrant form of T-cell phenotype. Alternatively, we suggest that Reed-Sternberg cells and Hodgkin's cells may be derived from monocyte-macrophage lineage because normal and neoplastic cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage express Pan-T antigen-/HLA-DR+/Leu-3a+/OKT6- phenotype.