Chemokine and chemokine receptor expression were similar in primary ALCL and cHL cases apart from the known overexpression of the chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 in the Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells of cHL.
Gains (>35%) in the HL chemoresponsive patients housed genes known to regulate T-cell trafficking or NF-κB activation (CCL22, CX3CL1, CCL17, DOK4, and IL10), whereas the refractory samples showed frequent loss of 4q27 (interleukin; IL21/IL2) and 17p12, and gain of 19q13.3 (BCL3/RELB).
T-cell-directed chemokine thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)- and/or macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC)-positive H&RS cells were detected in all 20 cases of HL MC and HL NS but only in 5 of 9 cases of HL-like ATLL.