Dendritic Cells Subsets Profiles In Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma At Diagnosis And Upon Treatment Completion: Analysis On 54 Patients

Background: In Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) tissues a few neoplastic cells are embedded in an overwhelming mixture of inflammatory and immune cells. These latter contribute to tumor expansion by providing pro-survival signals and favoring immune escape. Current staging system categorizes patients in early and advanced stages reflecting tumor burden and dissemination. Overall, up to one-third of patients may recur after induction treatment and no robust biomarkers have been yet validated to identify progressors. Despite the prominence of the inflammatory immune microenvironment, the play of some key immunomodulators such as myeloid type-1 (mDC1), type-2 (mDC2) and plasmacytoid (pDC) dendritic cells (DCs) in the cellular cross-talk underlying cHL is largely unexplored.