Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-3 (ICAM-3/CD50) in malignant lymphoproliferative disorders and solid tumors

ICAM-3/CD50 is a recently described LFA-1 counter receptor that seems to play an important role in the initiation of immune responses. In this study we have examined the expression of ICAM-3/CD50 in a large series of human neoplasms including 101 Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), 26 Hodgkin's disease, and 38 solid tumors to define the distribution patterns of this molecule in malignant neoplasms and their possible correlation with clinical and pathological characteristics of the patients. In NHL, ICAM-3/CD50 was expressed in almost all the tumors with a tendency to be lost in high grade lymphomas. Reed-Sternberg cells and their variants in Hodgkin's disease were always negative independently of the histological subtype of the disease. No expression was observed in tumor epithelial cells of the 38 solid tumors examined. Strong endothelial cell staining was observed in 31% of the NHL and 31% of Hodgkin's disease. ICAM-3 expression in these cases was restricted to small tumor vessels. ICAM-3 expression in endothelial cells of NHL was significantly more frequent in high grade (40%) than in low grade lymphomas (14%) (p=0.012). In addition, tumor vessels were also positive in 29% of solid tumors independently of the histological type. No correlation was observed between ICAM-3 expression in tumor or endothelial cells and other clinical and pathological characteristics of the patients. These findings indicate that ICAM-3 expression in human tumors is restricted to hematological neoplasms with a tendency to be lost in high grade lymphomas and Hodgkin's disease. ICAM-3 is also expressed by endothelial cells from tumor-associated neovascularization in both lymphoid and solid tumors.