Clonality of Reed–Sternberg Cells in Hodgkin's Disease

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Abstract
In 1995 we reported in the Journal the results of a molecular analysis of single Reed–Sternberg cells in biopsy specimens from patients with Hodgkin's disease.1 Amplified immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene sequences bore the hallmarks of B cells, and in 6 of the 12 cases we studied, there was evidence of the presence of monoclonal Reed–Sternberg cells — that is, identical immunoglobulin-gene rearrangements in several different Reed–Sternberg cells. Unexpectedly, we also found polyclonal Reed–Sternberg cells (i.e., cells with unrelated immunoglobulin-gene rearrangements). Other groups have also found polyclonal Reed–Sternberg cells,2 but some investigators indicated that the cells in individual cases were derived from a single precursor.3