[Expression of costimulatory molecules B7H3 and B7H4 in T lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia and clinical significance]

Objective: To investigate the expression of B7H3 and B7H4 in T lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia (T-LBL/ALL) in correlation with clinicopathological parameters and patient prognosis. Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression of B7H3 and B7H4 protein in 100 cases of T-LBL/ALL(test group) and 30 cases of lymph node reactive hyperplasia (LH) (control group), diagnosed at Shanxi Cancer Hospital from January 2001 to June 2017. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of B7H3 and B7H4 in 50 cases of T-LBL/ALL and 30 cases of LH (control group). Results: There were 79 males,21 females. Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression rates of B7H3 and B7H4 were 23%(23/100) and 54%(54/100), respectively. By real-time RT-PCR, the relative expression of B7H3 mRNA in the T-LBL/ALL group was 2.5 times of that of the LH group. The expression levels of B7H4 mRNA in T-LBL/ALL group and LH group were extremely low.Single factor analysis showed that B7H3 protein expression in T-LBL/ALL group was associated with B symptoms and primary nodal disease (P<0.05). B7H4 protein expression was associated with mediastinal broadening and bone marrow involvement (P<0.05). B7H3 protein, B7H3 mRNA, B7H4 protein expression and IPI score were associated with prognosis (P<0.05), and the combined expression of B7H3 and B7H4 was associated with T-LBL/ALL prognosis (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that overexpression of B7H3 mRNA was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of patients with T-LBL/ALL (P<0.05). Conclusion: Expression of B7H3 and B7H4 is closely corelated with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with T-LBL/ALL, suggesting that B7H3 and B7H4 expression play an important role in the development of T-LBL/ALL.