Circulating immune complexes and prognosis in human malignant lymphoma, a prospective study.

Sera from 53 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 56 patients with non-Hodgkin malignant lymphoma (NH) were investigated, prior to treatment, for the presence of circulating immune complexes (CIC) by the 125I-C1q-binding radioassay. The patients were then followed for 14-31 months. No significant association was found between the presence of CIC and achievement of complete remission in any of the groups. In none of the groups could a difference be found between the survival rates of patients with and without CIC in their sera prior to treatment. About half of the patients were retested for the presence of CIC after completion of initial therapy. No significant association was found between the presence of post-treatment CIC and lack of complete remission in any of the patient groups. In the HD group, both pre- and post-treatment CIC appeared to be most frequent among patients over 50 years. No such association was found in the NH group.