Immunohistochemistry of Hodgkin's disease. A study of 20 cases.

An immunoperoxidase study of 20 cases of Hodgkin's disease demonstrated universal staining of Reed Sternberg cells and their mononuclear variants for both kappa and lambda light chains and, in all but one case, for IgG. Staining for IgA and albumin was variable and for IgD and IgM uniformly negative. A double staining procedure using two different chromogens produced the paradoxical finding of both light chain types within the same cell, but these could only be demonstrated sequentially and not simultaneously, suggesting a blocking phenomenon. The above findings coupled with the demonstration of muramidase and/or alpha-1-antitrypsin in Reed-Sternberg cells and their mononuclear variants in all but two cases studied favor a histiocytic origin for these cells. This characteristic profile of results is also very helpful in distinguishing Hodgkin's disease from other neoplasms which mimic Hodgkin's disease because of the presence of Reed-Sternberg-like cells.