TY - JOUR
T1 - Apoptotic index as a prognostic factor in Hodgkin's disease
AU - Benharroch, Daniel
AU - Levy, Amalia
AU - Prinsloo, Isebrand
AU - Ariad, Samuel
AU - Rabinovitch, Daniella
AU - Shendler, Yaakov
AU - Sacks, Martin
AU - Gopas, Jacob
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Prof. Shraga Segal for continuous support. We thank Mrs. Eugenia Mejirovsky for excellent technical assistance. Sources of financial support: The Yvonne Heymann Trust, through the Chief Scientist's Office, the Israel Ministry of Health; the Yanai Tabb Cancer Research Fund; the Bar-Lamsdorf Foundation, through the Israel Cancer Association; the Richard H. Holzer Memorial Foundation; the Marius Wolf Foundation for Medical Research and the Israel Science Foundation.
PY - 1999/1/1
Y1 - 1999/1/1
N2 - Hodgkin's disease (HD) is an unusual malignant neoplasm, mainly because of the rarity of tumor cells in the diseased tissues, but also due to a relatively favorable response to treatment. In a previous study, we have shown a variable degree of apoptosis in lymph nodes from HD patients. We now looked for clinicopathological correlations of apoptosis with special emphasis on the prognosis in this disease. A retrospective study of 92 patients was carried out, using in situ end labelling of DNA fragments and an apoptosis detection kit. An apoptotic index (AI) was calculated in each case, as the percentage of apoptotic Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells out of the total number of tumor cells in 10 selected high power fields. An association between a high AI and advanced stages was noted. A Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a negative correlation between AI and survival (p = 0.05). In a multivariable analysis adjusting for Ann Arbor stage, a high AI carried a 3.27 fold risk of dying of HD (OR = 3.27; CI = 0.89-11.94). However, in our limited cohort of HD patients, AI was not an independent prognostic factor. The results of this study confirm the important role played by apoptosis in HD and suggest that the apoptotic index is probably a negative prognostic marker in this disease. Its assessment in patients with HD may provide a new, important clinical tool.
AB - Hodgkin's disease (HD) is an unusual malignant neoplasm, mainly because of the rarity of tumor cells in the diseased tissues, but also due to a relatively favorable response to treatment. In a previous study, we have shown a variable degree of apoptosis in lymph nodes from HD patients. We now looked for clinicopathological correlations of apoptosis with special emphasis on the prognosis in this disease. A retrospective study of 92 patients was carried out, using in situ end labelling of DNA fragments and an apoptosis detection kit. An apoptotic index (AI) was calculated in each case, as the percentage of apoptotic Hodgkin-Reed-Sternberg cells out of the total number of tumor cells in 10 selected high power fields. An association between a high AI and advanced stages was noted. A Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a negative correlation between AI and survival (p = 0.05). In a multivariable analysis adjusting for Ann Arbor stage, a high AI carried a 3.27 fold risk of dying of HD (OR = 3.27; CI = 0.89-11.94). However, in our limited cohort of HD patients, AI was not an independent prognostic factor. The results of this study confirm the important role played by apoptosis in HD and suggest that the apoptotic index is probably a negative prognostic marker in this disease. Its assessment in patients with HD may provide a new, important clinical tool.
KW - Apoptosis
KW - Apoptotic index
KW - Hodgkin's disease
KW - Prognostic factors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032917445&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/10428199909058435
DO - 10.3109/10428199909058435
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032917445
SN - 1042-8194
VL - 33
SP - 351
EP - 359
JO - Leukemia and Lymphoma
JF - Leukemia and Lymphoma
IS - 3-4
ER -
