Impact of cluster of differentiation 20 expression and rituximab therapy in classical Hodgkin lymphoma: Real world experience

The prognostic impact of CD20 expression and rituximab therapy in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is unclear. Among 310 patients, CD20 was expressed in 66 (22%) cases. The 3-year PFS was 75.1% for CD20+and 70% for CD20− (p = 0.36). The 3-year PFS was 84.7% for the rituximab group and 67.8% for the no rituximab group (p = 0.23). Only constitutional symptoms and positive interim PET/CT were significantly associated with worse outcome, HR 3.2 (1.14–9.01; p = 0.028) and 4.3 (2.27–8.1; p < 0.0001), respectively. Neither CD20 expression nor rituximab use significantly impacted outcome.