The Utility of Phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) in Follicular Lymphoma Grading.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the utility of phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) mitotic count (MC) in grading follicular lymphoma (FL).

METHODS: FL cases were identified (2005-2017). Three hematopathologists recorded their average Ki-67 proliferation index, MC/high-power field (hpf) using PHH3 and H&E stains, and number of centroblasts/hpf. Results were assessed for correlations and interobserver variability.

RESULTS: Forty-three cases of FL were studied. PHH3 MC resulted in the strongest correlation to grade (r = 0.701, P < .0001) compared with Ki-67 proliferation index (PI) (r = 0.681, P < .0001) and H&E MC (r = 0.536, P = .0002) and the strongest linear relationship to centroblast count (R2 = 0.453). Agreement among pathologists was strongest for PHH3 (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.86) followed by Ki-67 PI (ICC = 0.85) and H&E MC (ICC = 0.78).

CONCLUSIONS: PHH3 correlates best to histologic grade and has less interobserver variability compared with Ki-67 PI and H&E MC. These results support using PHH3 as an adjunct in FL grading.