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Neoplastic cells in classical Hodgkin's lymphomas (cHL) seem to correspond to defective germinal center B-cells, which escape from apoptosis. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may be implicated in this protective mechanism. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in cHL among adult patients and correlate them with EBV expression, clinical findings and survival. EBV was detected by in situ hybridization (Epstein-Barr Encoded RNA, EBER, probe). Immunohistochemistry was used on paraffin sections to detect LMP-1/EBV, CD15 and the apoptosis-related proteins (bcl-2, bax, bcl-X, mcl-1 and CD95). Seventy-eight patients seen at our Institution were studied: 36 male and 42 female. Median age was 31 years (15-75 years). Histological types of cHL were: 61 nodular sclerosis (47 NS1 and 14 NS2), 15 mixed cellularity (MC), 1 lymphocyte depletion and 1 unclassified. In 50 cases there was EBV expression (64%). At least one apoptosis-associated protein was expressed in 92% and CD15 in 57.7% of the cases. In the univariate analysis, the following variables were related to a better overall survival: expression of CD15 (p = 0.023), expression of mcl-1 protein (p = 0.029), expression of bcl-2 protein (p = 0.028, only in a Cox model after stratification for histology) and expression of LMP-1 (p = 0.042). EBV expression presented a borderline inverse correlation with bcl-2. A prognostic index (PI) developed in the present study revealed that simultaneous expression of bcl-2, mcl-1 and LMP-1 was significant and independently correlated with an excellent survival.

J Oral Pathol Med (2010) : 741-746 Oral lesions of lichen planus and chronic graft-vs.-host disease (cGVHD) have similar clinical and histological features, but distinct etiology. Apoptosis induced by cytotoxic T lymphocyte has been proposed as a mechanism of keratinocytes death. Cytotoxicity can be mediated by granules containing granzyme B and perforin. Since common features can reflect similarities in immunological mechanisms, we studied the role of those molecules in both diseases. We analyzed 29 cases of oral lichen planus and 27 of oral cGVHD. The sections were studied on H&E, perforin and granzyme B staining. The total means (epithelium plus connective tissue number) of the granzyme B- and perforin-positive cells were significantly higher in cGVHD than in oral lichen planus lesions ( P < 0.05). Also, it was found that the higher the number of perforin+ cells, the higher the number of granzyme-B+ cells in the epithelium and in the connective tissue for both groups ( P < 0.05). In oral lichen planus, the number of single apoptotic bodies had a positive correlation with connective tissue granzyme immunostaining and a negative correlation with perforin ( P < 0.01). On the contrary, in oral cGVHD, the number of apoptotic body clusters presented a positive correlation with connective tissue perforin ( P < 0.01). Our findings indicate that apoptosis in oral lichen planus seems to be correlated with granzyme B release, while in oral cGVHD, perforin seems to be more important. Although these diseases present clinical and histological similarities, subtle differences seem to exist in their pathogenetic mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]