Issues

Interleukin (IL)-13 is secreted by Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (H/RS) tumor cells and plays a critical role in the stimulation of H/RS cell growth, possibly by an autocrine mechanism. Shown is an example of in situ hybridization of lymph node tissue from a Hodgkin's disease patient using an antisense RNA probe for IL-13. Note that the IL-13 signal is specifically associated with the H/RS tumor cell. Serial sections of this same cell showed positive expression of CD30 and CD15, both of which are established markers for H/RS tumor cells. See related article in this issue by Kapp et al., pp. 1939–1945.