Expression of LFA-1 identifies different prognostic subgroups in patients with advanced follicle center lymphoma (FCL)

In a retrospective immunohistochemical study based on 27 patients with stag e TV follicle center lymphoma (FCL) the expression of CD44standard (CD44s), LFA-1 (CD11a, CD18), VLA-4 (CD49d, CD29) and ICAM-1 (CD54) was analysed on lymphoma cells in bone marrow infiltrates. The results were correlated to clinical data and overall survival. Our data demonstrate that the expressio n of LFA-1 on lymphoma cells is predictive for the prognosis of patients wi th advanced FCL. In detail, patients exhibiting weak to moderate expression (+ / + +) of CD11 and CD18 showed a significantly shorter median survival (51 months and 33 months, respectively) than did those presenting with stro ng expression (+ + +) of the LFA-1 adhesion molecule (P = 0.04 and P = 0.00 51, respectively). Furthermore, multivariate analysis identified CD18 as a new independent prognostic factor in patients with advanced FCL. Our findin gs emphasize the relevance of adhesion molecules for the pathology of FCL a nd give further support for their impact on clinical course and overall sur vival. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.