@article{3081578,
    title = "CD20 expression in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells of classical
Hodgkin's disease: Associations with presenting features and clinical
outcome",
    author = "Rassidakis, GZ and Medeiros, LJ and Viviani, S and Bonfante, V and and Nadali, GP and Vassilakopoulos, TP and Mesina, O and Herling, M and and Angelopoulou, MK and Giardini, R and Chilosi, M and Kittas, C and and McLaughlin, P and Rodriguez, MA and Romaguera, J and Bonadonna, G and and Gianni, AM and Pizzolo, G and Pangalis, GA and Cabanillas, F and Sarris, and AH",
    journal = "Journal of Clinical Oncology",
    year = "2002",
    volume = "20",
    number = "5",
    pages = "1278-1287",
    publisher = "AMER SOC CLINICAL ONCOLOGY 2318 MILL ROAD, STE 800, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 USA",
    issn = "0732-183X, 1527-7755",
    doi = "10.1200/JCO.20.5.1278",
    abstract = "Purpose: CD20 can be expressed in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells
of classical Hodgkin’s disease (HD), but its clinical significance
remains controversial. Therefore, we correlated CD20 expression with
presenting features and clinical outcome of untreated patients with
classical HID.
Patients and Methods: Patients were eligible if they were previously
untreated and human immunodeficiency virus-1 negative, had biopsy-proven
classical HD, and if pretreatment paraffin-embedded tumor tissue was
available. CD20 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry
without knowledge of clinical outcome. A tumor was considered positive
if any HRS cells expressed CD20, but other cutoffs for number of
CD20-positive HRS were also investigated.
Results: We identified 598 patients whose median age was 30 years and of
whom 55% were male. HRS cells expressed CD20 in 132 (22%) of 598
patients with classical HD. When any percentage of CD20 expression in
HRS cells was used as a cutoff, the 5-year failure-free survival (FFS)
for positive versus negative tumors was 86% versus 84%, respectively,
for 302 patients treated with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and
dacarbazine or equivalent regimens (P = .7 by log-rank test), 74%
versus 77%, respectively, for 181 patients treated with mitoxantrone,
vincristine, vinblastine, and prednisone and radiotherapy (P = .7 by
log-rank test), 74% versus 84%, respectively, for 54 patients treated
with MOPP (P = .4 by log-rank test), and 77% versus 88% for 53
patients treated only with radiotherapy (P = .5 by log-rank test). The
5-year FFS was not statistically different when cutoffs of 5% up to
50% for CD20-positive HRS cells were used.
Conclusion: CD20 is expressed by HRS cells in 22% of patients with
classical HD but is not associated with different FFS after treatment
with equivalent regimens. (C) 2002 by American Society of Clinical
Oncology."
}