Immunohistochemical analysis of the distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in Hodgkin's disease.

We studied the histologic distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in Hodgkin's disease. Involved tissues from 15 patients were stained by an indirect immunoperoxidase procedure for a variety of lymphocyte surface antigens using monoclonal antibodies. In most cases, there were more T cells than B cells, and Reed-Sternberg cells were found in T-cell rich areas. Except in lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin's disease, helper-T antigen-positive (TH) cells greatly outnumbered cytotoxic-suppressor antigen-positive cells. Moreover, TH cells showed a preferential association with Reed-Sternberg cells. Lymphocytes surrounding Reed-Sternberg cells often expressed the transferrin receptor, a marker of cell activation. Our results do not support the hypothesis that the lymphocytes in Hodgkin's disease represent a cytotoxic T-cell response to neoplastic cells, except perhaps in the lymphocyte-depleted subtype.