Inutility of IMP3 Marker in Differentiating Hodgkin Lymphoma from Large Cell Lymphoma

Abstract

Background: Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most commonly diagnosed lym- phomas in Western society. Today Reed-Sternberg cells are identified by positive staining of several biomarkers. The IMP3 (insulin-like growth factor II m-RNA-bind- ing protein 3) marker is a member of the insulin-like growth factor II mRNA binding protein family that has been suggested as a diagnostic marker in some epithelial malignancies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the expression profile of IMP3 in Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients and compare it with those with large cell lymphoma.

Methods: In this study, patients diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma between 2016 and 2018 were recruited. For the control group, patients diagnosed with large cell lymphoma were chosen. Paraffin blocks were collected and cut by a microtome machine. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on the slides for the IMP3 marker, using the Envision method. The color intensity was divided into four groups, and data on age, gender, staining intensity, sampling rate, and staining pattern en- tered at the end of the checklists. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software. The paired t-test has was employed, and a significant statistical level of 0.05 was considered in all tests.

Results: In this study, 145 patients in a wide range of 5 to 84 years (the mean age = 41 ± 17 years) were studied. Fifty-three patients were diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (36.6%), 4 cases (2.8%) with anaplastic large cell lymphoma and 88 cases with (60.7%) Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Among 145 patients in the current study, 143 patients (98.6%) were positive for IMP3. IMP3 was positive in all patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and only 2 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were negative for this maker, in whom severe ne- crosis was noted. Consequently, there is not a vivid difference between Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (p-value=0.153)

Conclusion: The marker is positive for Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a negative back- ground and may be used as a supplementary marker along with CD15 and CD30 to detect neoplastic cells. However, it cannot help differentiate it from large cell lym- phomas because it is also positive for non-Hodgkin lymphomas.