Summary The purpose of this study was to examine the prognostic significance of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) expression alone and in relation to the expression of the MET- receptor and the MET-homologous receptor RON, in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL). Tumour samples from patients with cHL (n = 202; median age 37.5 years) were analysed retrospectively for IGF-R1, MET or RON expression by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays. The median follow-up time was 3.7 years (range, 0.1–20 years). Twenty-nine patients (14.3%) expressed IGF-1R protein in Hodgkin/Reed–Sternberg (HRS) cells, which was associated with a better overall survival (OS) (P = 0.036). IGF-1R expression was closely associated with MET receptor expression and low level of lactate dehydrogenase. In patients with cHL receiving doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine, those expressing IGF-1R showed a trend towards better OS and event-free survival than IGF-1R-negative patients (P = 0.129 and P = 0.115 respectively), but statistical significance was not reached. This study suggests that IGF-1R expression could be associated with better clinical outcome in cHL but is significantly associated with the expression of MET receptor.
