Expression data of diagnostic biopsy samples from Hodgkin lymphoma patients

Despite advances in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treatment, about 20% of patients still die due to progressive disease. Current prognostic models predict treatment outcome with imperfect accuracy, and clinically relevant biomarkers are yet to be established that improve upon the International Prognostic Scoring (IPS) system. We analyzed 130 frozen diagnostic lymph node biopsies from classical HL patients by gene expression profiling to describe cellular signatures correlated with treatment outcome. Diagnostic fresh-frozen lymph node specimens from 130 patients with cHL were selected for GEP from the tissue archive at the British Columbia Cancer Agency and the University of Nebraska Medical Center according to the following criteria: primary diagnosis of cHL following central review, representative lymph node tissue (at least 1 cm² area in tissue sections), HIV-negative status and first line treatment with systemic chemotherapy ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine) or ABVD-like regimen with or without radiation therapy if indicated or, in the case of seven patients with limited-stage disease, wide field radiation.