Prognostic significance of soluble adhesion molecules in Hodgkin's disease.

BACKGROUND Cell adhesion may play a pivotal role in the development, progression and metastasis of solid malignancies. We evaluated the serum concentration of four adhesion molecules and their prognostic significance in patients with Hodgkin's Disease (HD). PATIENTS AND METHODS Serum samples from 20 HD patients were collected at diagnosis, after 3 cycles of chemotherapy and at completion of treatment and compared with a control group of 29 apparently healthy subjects. Soluble forms of E-Selectin (sE-Selectin), ICAM-1 (sICAM-1), VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) and E-Cadherin (sE-Cad) were measured by standard ELISA assays. RESULTS Significantly increased serum levels of sICAM-1 and sE-Selectin were determined in HD patients at diagnosis compared to controls (p<0.0001), while sVCAM-1 at diagnosis correlated significantly with both sICAM-1 and sE-Selectin levels (r=0.5, p=0.03). Chemotherapy resulted in a significant decrease of sICAM-1 and sE-Selectin levels (p=0.02 and p=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION Serum levels of ICAM-1 and E-Selectin in newly diagnosed HD patients were found significantly increased, suggesting a possible involvement of these two molecules in the pathogenesis of the disease. Their rapid decrease following chemotherapy was found to be an independent predictor of response to treatment.