Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) histopathology is characterized by rare malignant Reed-Sternberg cells among an inflammatory infiltrate. We hypothesized that characteristics of inflammation in pediatric HL lesions would be reflected by the levels of inflammatory cytokines or chemokines in pre-therapy plasma of children with HL. The study objectives were to better define the inflammatory pre-therapy plasma proteome and identify plasma biomarkers associated with extent of disease and clinical outcomes in pediatric HL. Pre-therapy plasma samples were obtained from pediatric subjects with newly diagnosed HL and healthy pediatric controls. Plasma concentrations of 135 cytokines/chemokines were measured with the Luminex platform. Associations between protein concentration and disease characteristics were determined using multivariate permutation tests with false discovery control. Fifty-six subjects with HL (mean age: 13 years, range 3-18) and 47 controls were analyzed. The cytokine/chemokine profiles of subjects with HL were distinct from controls, and unique cytokines/chemokines were associated with high-risk disease (IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-8) and slow early response (CCL13, IFN-λ1, IL-8). TNFSF10 was significantly elevated among those who ultimately relapsed and was significantly associated with worse event-free survival. These biomarkers could be incorporated into biologically based risk stratification to optimize outcomes and minimize toxicities in pediatric HL.
Keywords: Hodgkin lymphoma; chemokines; childhood hematological malignancies; cytokines; immunology.