IA Shupletsova, AM Kovrigina, TN Moiseeva, EI Dorokhina, SM Kulikov

National Medical Hematology Research Center, 4a Novyi Zykovskii pr-d, Moscow, Russian Federation, 125167

For correspondence: Irina Aleksandrovna Shupletsova, 4a Novyi Zykovskii pr-d, Moscow, Russian Federation, 125167; Tel.: +7(906)757-50-43; e-mail: voda90@inbox.ru

For citation: Shupletsova IA, Kovrigina AM, Moiseeva TN, et al. A Clinical and Pathological Comparison of Different Immunomorphological Subvariants of Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at Initial Diagnosis. Clinical oncohematology. 2019;12(2):185–93.

DOI: 10.21320/2500-2139-2019-12-2-185-193

---

ABSTRACT

Background. Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NLPHL) is a rare Hodgkin’s lymphoma subtype with a variable growth pattern and immune tissue architecture of tumor. Clustering of patients into subgroups based on immunohistochemical (IHC) tumor subvariants is essential for prognosis assessment and development of new differentiated treatment approaches.

Aim. To study clinical course of NLPHL in patients with different IHC-subvariants of the disease and identify a poor prognosis subgroup.

Materials & Methods. From 2010 to 2017 the Department of Anatomic Pathology at the National Medical Hematology Research Center undertook morphological and IHC-analysis of lymph node and bone marrow core biopsies of 60 NLPHL patients: 47 men and 13 women (male/female ratio of 3.6:1) aged 17–68 years (median 37 years). IHC-analysis with expanded panel of antibodies was performed in all cases of determining IHC-subvariants in accordance with WHO-2017 classification.

Results. The clinical and immunomorphological comparative study of NLPHL with variant immune tissue architecture allowed to divide the patient population into three subgroups with differently manifested areas similar to T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLBCL) in lymph node sections or other site biopsies. These subgroups are characterized by different clinical course of the disease. The subgroup with ≥ 50 % THRLBCL-like areas was marked by the prevalence of clinical stage IV and significantly larger amount of extranodal lesions.

Conclusion. In NLPHL the most unfavorable clinical course is typical of the patients whose biopsies contain ≥ 50 % THRLBCL-like areas. Semi-quantification of THRLBCL-like areas allowed to define a spectrum of NLPHL IHC-subvariants correlating with the clinical course of the disease. The true transformation into diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a rare event, it occurred in 2 (3 %) out of 60 patients.

Keywords: nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma, THRLBCL-like areas, immune tissue architecture, immunohistochemical subvariants.

Received: January 19, 2019

Accepted: March 10, 2019

Read in PDF 

---

REFERENCES

1. Демина Е.А., Тумян Г.С., Чекан А.А. и др. Редкое заболевание — нодулярная лимфома Ходжкина с лимфоидным преобладанием: обзор литературы и собственные наблюдения. Клиническая онкогематология. 2014;7(4):522–32.

   [Demina EA, Tumyan GS, Chekan AA, et al. Rare Disease — Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: Literature Review and Own Data. Klinicheskaya onkogematologiya. 2014;7(4):522–32. (In Russ)]

2. Моисеева Т.Н., Аль-Ради Л.С., Ковригина А.М. и др. Нодулярная лимфома Ходжкина с лимфоидным преобладанием: принципы диагностики и лечения. Терапевтический архив. 2015;87(11):78–83. doi: 10.17116/terarkh2015871178-83.

   [Moiseeva TN, Al’-Radi LS, Kovrigina AM, et al. Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma: Principles of diagnosis and treatment. Terapevticheskii arkhiv. 2015;87(11):78–83. doi: 10.17116/terarkh2015871178-83. (In Russ)]

3. Seliem RM, Ferry JA, Hasserjian RP, et al. Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma (NLPHL) with CD30-Positive Lymphocyte-Predominant (LP) Cells. J Hematopathol. 2011;4(3):175–81. doi: 10.1007/s12308-011-0104-x.

4. Stein H, Swerdlow SH, Gascoyne RD, et al. Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. In: SH Swerdlow, E Campo, NL Harris, et al., eds. WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. Revised 4th Edition. Lyon: IARC Press; pp. 431–4.

5. Ковригина A.M., Пробатова Н.A. Лимфома Ходжкина и крупноклеточные лимфомы. М.: МИА, 2007. С. 212.

   [Kovrigina AM, Probatova NA. Limfoma Khodzhkina i krupnokletochnye limfomy. (Hodgkin’s lymphoma and large cell lymphomas.) Moscow: MIA Publ.; 2007. pp. 212 (In Russ)]

6. Brune V, Tiacci E, Pfeil I, et al. Origin and pathogenesis of nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma as revealed by global gene expression analysis. J Exp Med. 2008;205(10):2251–68. doi: 10.1084/jem.20080809.

7. Hartmann S, Doring C, Jakobus C, et al. Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma and T Cell/Histiocyte Rich Large B Cell Lymphoma – Endpoints of a Spectrum of One Disease? PLoS One. 2013;8(11):e78812. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078812.

8. Schuhmacher B, Bein J, Rausch T, et al. JUNB, DUSP2, SGK1, SOCS1 and CREBBP are frequently mutated in T-cell/histiocyte rich large B-cell lymphoma. Haematologica. 2018;104(2):330–7. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2018.203224.

9. Fan Z, Natkunam Y, Bair E, et al. Characterization of variant patterns of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma with immunohistologic and clinical correlation. Am J Surg Pathol. 2003;27(10):1346–56. doi: 10.1097/00000478-200310000-00007.

10. Hartmann S, Eichenauer DA, Plutschow A, et al. The prognostic impact of variant histology in nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma: a report from the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG). Blood. 2013;122(26):4246–52. doi. 10.1182/blood-2013-07-515825.

11. Agbay RLMC, Loghavi S, Zuo Z, et al. Bone Marrow Involvement in Patients With Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma. Am J Surg Pathol. 2018;42(4):492–9. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001005.

12. Xing KH, Connors JM, Lai A, et al. Advanced-stage nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma compared with classical Hodgkin lymphoma: a matched pair outcome analysis. Blood. 2014;123(23):3567–73. doi: 10.1182/blood-2013-12-541078.

13. Fanale MA, Cheah CY, Rich A, et al. Encouraging activity for R-CHOP in Advanced Stage Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma. Blood. 2017;130(4):472–7. doi: 10.1182/blood-2017-02-766121.

14. Swerdlow SH, Campo E, Pileri SA, et al. The 2016 revision of the World Health Organization classification of lymphoid neoplasms. Blood. 2016;127(20):2375–90. doi: 10.1182/blood-2016-01-643569.

15. Ott G, Delabie J, Gascoyne RD, et al. T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma. In: SH Swerdlow, E Campo, NL Harris, et al., eds. WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. Revised 4th Edition. Lyon: IARC Press; pp. 298–9.