Flores, MBACorvinos, MSElez, MMDel Pecho, BSSanchez, LCde la Fe, JGSantos, RGValenciano, FC2026-02-252026-02-252023-02-28Pathology. 2023 Feb;55(1):86-93.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/27274Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) appears to originate from germinal centre B cells but lacks expression of most B cell markers. In contrast to non-Hodgkin B lymphomas, HL is not routinely diagnosed using flow cytometry techniques, and diagnosis is mainly based on immunohistochemical and cytomorphological pathology studies. Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells are large and fragile, making them difficult to study by flow cytometry. The aim of this study was to characterise the CD71 expression pattern on CD4+ T cells from HL patients and to design a simple flow cytometry algorithm to complement the histopathological diagnosis of HL. The present study suggests the utility of a conventional staining protocol with a simple panel of seven markers (CD15, CD30, CD4, CD8, CD71, CD3, and CD45) and a well-defined analysis strategy. The proposed algorithm uses the CD71 ratio (calculated as the percentage of CD71+ CD4+ T cells divided by the percentage of CD71+ CD45+ CD3- lymphocytes), with a cut-off of 0.5 to establish diagnosis groups as suggestive (≥0.5) or not suggestive (<0.5) of HL. In HL, CD71 expression is higher on CD4+ T lymphocytes than on non-T lymphocytes. In addition, the CD4+ T cell population is increased in HL patients, with no change in amounts of CD8+ T cells. Application of the CD71 ratio algorithm yielded a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 87%, with 84.61% of patients correctly diagnosed. Although histopathology remains the gold standard for definitive HL diagnosis, the proposed flow cytometry method provides a rapid method to guide the study that would allow a more robust and integrated diagnosis. Moreover, the procedure is easily applicable in most clinical laboratories as it does not require state-of-the-art cytometers and uses standard reagents.This research did not require additional funding and was carried out with the resources used for patient diagnosis in the Laboratorio Central de la Comunidad de Madrid, BRSalud. This publication was funded by the CNIC. The CNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MCIN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (grant CEX2020-001041-S funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). The authors state that there are no other conflicts of interest to disclose.engSMURhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalPathologyopen access