Circulating soluble CD30 and future risk of lymphoma; evidence from two prospective studies in the general population

BACKGROUND: Elevated circulating soluble CD30 (sCD30) has been previously associated with AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk. This finding was recently extended to the general population where elevated levels of sCD30 were reported in prediagnostic serum among subjects that developed NHL later in life. METHODS: We carried out a replication study within the Italian European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. Plasma sCD30 concentration was measured by ELISA in prospectively collected blood of 35 B-cell lymphoma cases and 36 matched controls. RESULTS: We observed significantly increased relative risks for lymphoma with increasing sCD30 levels [OR (95% CI) for second and third tertiles vs. first tertile: 5.5 (1.5-20.2), 4.0 (1.1-13.9), respectively]. In addition, spline analyses showed that the dose-response curve of sCD30 and lymphoma risk was monotonic and quite similar to the risks reported in the previous study. CONCLUSION: This replication study adds to the evidence that sCD30 is related to future lymphoma risk in a concentration-dependent manner in the general population. IMPACT: The results of this study strengthen the observation that chronic sustained B-cell activation plays an important role in lymphomagenesis.