Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (icam-1), cd44s expression, and serum level of sicam-1 in disseminated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma : correlation with overall survival

Background and Purpose : Uncontrolled growth, invasion and distant spread are the characteristics of neoplastic cells. Changes in adhesion molecule expression, such as loss of expression, de novo expression or functional alterations, can be observed in each of these steps. The aim of the present work was to study the expression of two adhesion molecules [standard CD44 (CD44s) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)] and the soluble form of ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) in adult disseminated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (D-NHL) and to correlate the findings with overall survival. Patients and Methods : The expression of CD44s and ICAM-1 adhesion molecules and the level of sICAM-1 were studied in 34 cases of (D-NHL). They included : 13 cases of lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL), 5 cases of Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), one case of diffuse large cell lymphoma (DLCL), 14 cases of small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), one case of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Ten apparently healthy individuals were taken as a control group. CD44s expression was evaluated by direct immunofluorescence, ICAM-1 by immunoperoxidase on cytopreps and serum level of sICAM-1 by ELISA. Results : ICAM-1 was positive in 6/34 cases (17.6%) of D-NHL. ICAM-1 was expressed in 2/15 (13.3%) of low-grade NHL and 4/19 (21%) of high-grade lymphoma with no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.6). CD44s was expressed in 13/34 cases (38.2%) of D-NHL; in 4/15 (26.6%) of low grade NHL and 9/19 (47.3%) of high grade lymphoma with no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.2). The serum levels of sICAM-1 were elevated in all patients with DNHL compared to healthy controls with a statistically significant difference (p