Genotypic analyses of Hodgkin's disease.

In spite of the use of molecular biology, the cellular lineage and clonality of Reed-Sternberg cells, the abnormal cells of Hodgkin's disease, remain an enigma. We studied the pattern of rearrangements at immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor loci in 23 patients suffering from Hodgkin's disease. Two out of 23 patients exhibited immunoglobulin gene rearrangements. No rearrangements of the T-cell receptor beta-chain gene were detected in any patient examined. Our results showed no correlation between the presence of rearranged bands and the number of Reed-Sternberg cells.