Immunohistological analysis of Tac antigen expression in tissues involved by Hodgkin's disease

The findings have at least two possible interpretations. First, anti-Tac may cross-react with epitopes on molecules other than IL-2 receptor. In that case the Tac positivity on H and RS cells could be only a useful identity marker. However, this possibility may not be the entire answer since in hairy cell leukaemia the molecular weight of the recognized Tac⁺ molecule is identical to that of the Tac receptor present on the IL-2 response cell lines (Korsmeyer et al., 1983). The more exciting possibility is therefore that Tac positivity on H and RS cells, as well as in hairy cell leukaemia and in other malignant conditions, might be a sign of the abnormal gene expression which may contribute to the uncontrolled growth or to the destructive influence seen in HD.