PD-1, FOXP3, and CSF-1R expression in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and their prognostic value.

: Despite advances in the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), there is a need for development of reliable prognostic biomarkers and improved stratification of patients for effective therapeutic intervention. The immune microenvironment is the key to HL pathophysiology. The aim of this study was to identify expression of microenvironment-related biomarkers (PD-1, FOXP3, and CSF-1R) immunohistochemically and determine their association with clinicopathological features and prognosis in HL. We found that a high number of non-HRS cells expressing CSF-1R confers inferior overall survival (OS), which is associated with the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in neoplastic cells (P=0.009). Increased FOXP3 expression confered superior OS and progression-free survival (PFS). PD-1 expression had no significant association with OS and PFS. The combination of FOXP3 and PD-1 or CSF-1R may yield better prognostic stratification.