IFNG and classic Hodgkin lymphoma: However, the view of CD163 as a specific M2 marker may represent an oversimplification, not only because a significant proportion of CD163+ macrophages can co-express pSTAT1, which is clearly associated with IFN-g induced M1 polarization [12,29,47,52] but also because CD163+pSTAT1+ macrophages were associated with better survival, suggesting that these cells may have an anti-neoplastic function in cHL.