Clonal rearrangements of T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin genes and immunophenotypic antigen expression in different subclasses of Hodgkin's disease.

Twenty-two cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD), representing the 4 different subclasses, were studied by immunophenotypic and immunogenotypic analysis. Quantitative immunophenotypic analysis of HD infiltrates showed a predominance of CD3-positive T cells in all subtypes except the lymphocytic depletion (HDLD) subtype. Only 5 samples of HD [2 of lymphocytic predominance (HDLP), 2 of mixed cellularity (HDMC), and one of nodular sclerosis type (HDNS)] were found to have both their Ig and T-cell antigen receptor (TcR) genes in the germ-line configuration. The remaining patients with HDLP (3 cases), HDNS (5 cases), and HDMC (4 cases), all exhibited rearrangements of either TcR gamma or TCR gamma and TcR beta genes, while all 5 cases of HDLD had either TCR gamma or immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement. These results substantiate the view that Hodgkin's lymphomas contain clonal lymphocyte populations and that different rearrangement patterns may be associated with different subclasses of HD.