Immunohistochemical expression and prognostic significance of CCND3, MCM2 and MCM7 in Hodgkin lymhoma.

BACKGROUND Increased proliferation rate may be associated with inferior outcome in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCMs) and D-type cyclins are essential for DNA replication. PATIENTS AND METHODS Lymph node sections from 138 HL patients were immunohistochemically stained for cyclin D3 (CCND3), MCM2 and MCM7 aiming to investigate clinical outcome. RESULTS Higher MCM2 expression was observed in patients in early stage disease and normal albumin levels; higher MCM7 was found for asymptomatic patients, early stage disease, <5 involved sites, no anemia and normal albumin levels; higher CCND3 expression was found for older patients and normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Univariate analysis revealed no correlation with failure-free (FFS) or overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis revealed that high MCM7 expression was an adverse prognostic factor for OS, along with older age and advanced stage, while it was of borderline significance for FFS when adjusted for stage. CONCLUSION These results suggest that MCM7 deserves further evaluation as a potential independent prognostic factor in larger patient series.