Abstract:

Objective To study the expressions of Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) and Bcl-2 protein in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg(HRS) cells of Hodgkin lymphoma(HL)  in young adults and clarify the relationship between them. Methods The clinical and pathological data of 48 patients with HL between 16 and 36 years old were collected and reviewed.The immunohistochemical method was employed to detect the expressions of CD30,CD15,CD45,LMP-1 and Bcl-2 in HRS cells of young patients with HL.In situ hybridization at tissue chip was used to detect the expression of EBV encoded small RNAs (EBER1 and EBER2).Statistical analysis was done to investigate the association between EBV and Bcl-2 expression.Results According to WHO 2008 classification criteria,no nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) was found in this group,all the cases were classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL),among which mixed cellularity classical Hodgkin lymphoma (MCCHL) accounted for 42.67%(20/48),nodular sclerosis classical Hodgkin lymphoma (NSCHL)  27.08%(13/48),lymphocyte-rich classical Hodgkin lymphoma (LRCHL)  25.00% (12/48),lymphocyte-depleted classical Hodgkin lymphoma (LDCHL)  5.25%(3/48).The positive rate of EBV  was 25.00% in all the 48 cases,and 66.67% (2/3),30.00%（6/20），25.00% (3/12),7.69% (1/13) in LDCHL,MCCHL,LRCHL and NSCHL,respectively;but not associated with gender,age and histological subtype of patients（P>0.05）. The Bcl-2 protein was expressed in 64.58% of the 48 cases,its positive rates were 84.62%（11/13），65.00%（13/20），50.00%（6/12），and 33.33%（1/3）in NSCHL,MCCHL,LRCHL,and LDCHL,respectively;and not relevant to gender,age,EBV  expression and histological subtype of patients（P>0.05）.Conclusion MCCHL is predominant in the four CHL subtypes.The positive rates of EBV  and Bcl-2 protein expression are  not related to gender,age and histological subtype of patients,and no relationship is found between EBV and Bcl-2 protein expression.

Key words: Hodgkin lymphoma；Epstein Barr virus；Bcl-2；immunohistochemistry；tissue chip； in situ hybridization