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Abstract
This study investigated stromal changes in expression of tenascin and vasculogenesis in lymphoma. Documenting the dynamic nature of the stromal changes in lymphoma in relation to response to therapy is helpful in planning new therapies directed at these targets. Two hundred and sixty one samples from 111 patients with varying types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were reviewed and examined using immunohistochemistry techniques. Samples were stained for factor VIII – related antigen for microvessel density (MVD) analysis and anti-tenascin antibody for qualitative assessment of the stromal expression. Multiple samples from the same patient were taken at the same point in time to assess whether stromal changes were limited to sites of disease. Multiple samples were examined over the course of a patient's illness to assess whether the stromal changes were modulated according to disease activity. There was a significant increase in tenascin expression and MVD in the sites of disease compared with uninvolved sites (p = 0.01 and p < 0.0001, respectively). In patients who responded to therapy, there was a decrease in the expression of tenascin (p = 0.0049) and MVD (p < 0.0001), and in those with disease progression there was an increase in the tenascin expression (p = 0.0050) and MVD (p < 0.0001). Our results suggest stromal changes are isolated to the sites of disease within patients, allowing targeted therapies to be developed. Further, stromal changes correlate with disease response over the course of the patient's disease. This new finding may have implications for the timing of anti-stromally directed therapies.