Clinicopathological analysis of immunohistochemical expression of retinoic acid–related orphan receptor-γt in peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified

• Published in: Human pathology Vol. 79; pp. 86 - 92
• Main Authors: Yanagida, Eriko, Miyoshi, Hiroaki, Kawamoto, Keisuke, Nakashima, Kazutaka, Matsuda, Kotaro, Yamada, Kyohei, Muto, Reiji, Nagafuji, Koji, Seto, Masao, Ohshima, Koichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-09-2018; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Cloning; Cytotoxicity; Lymphoma; Medical prognosis; Multivariate analysis; Pathology; Prognosis; PTCL-NOS; RORγt; Statistical analysis; Transcription factors; Denmark; Ann Arbor Michigan; United States > US; Japan; PTCL-NOS; Pathology; Prognosis; RORγt
• ISSN: 0046-8177; 1532-8392
• DOI: 10.1016/j.humpath.2018.05.002

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is cytologically and phenotypically heterogeneous. Retinoic acid–related orphan receptor-γt (RORγt) is a transcription factor that regulates the differentiation of naïve CD4+ helper T cells to Th17 cells. In the present study, we immunohistochemically confirmed the expression of RORγt in PTCL-NOS. Pathological and clinical investigations were performed for 170 cases of PTCL-NOS. RORγt-positive cases accounted for 17.6% (30/170) of the total cases, and they showed a significantly higher frequency of CD8 positivity (P = .033), lower counts of white blood cells (P = .030) and neutrophils (P = .039) in the peripheral blood, higher levels of hypergammaglobulinemia (P = .031), a higher frequency of a complete response (P = .009), and a tendency for a lower International Prognostic Index (P = .061) and better overall survival (P = .0806). These results suggest that RORγt-positive PTCL-NOS could be a subpopulation of PTCL-NOS. Further research associated with this genomic abnormality at the transcriptional level is needed to confirm the results of this study.
•We investigated RORγt expression in patients with PTCL-NOS.•RORγt-positive PTCL-NOS showed a tendency for better overall survival.•RORγt-positive PTCL-NOS could be a subpopulation of PTCL-NOS.