Genetic alterations in B cell lymphoma subtypes as potential biomarkers for noninvasive diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, and disease monitoring

Abstract

Neoplastic transformation of germinal center B (GCB) cells may give rise to a variety of different B cell lymphoma subtypes,most of which show substantial heterogeneity in terms of genetic alterations and clinical features. The mutations observed in cancerrelated genes in GCB cells are related to abnormalities in the immunogenetic mechanisms associated with germinal center reaction.Recent studies have rapidly identified genomic alterations in B cell lymphomas that may be useful for better subclassification, noninvasivediagnosis, and prediction of response to therapy. The WHO recognizes different lymphoma subsets classified within 2 major categoriesof B cell lymphoma: Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), each with distinct genetic aberrations,including chromosomal translocations, copy number abnormalities, or point mutations. Next-generation sequencing-based technologieshave allowed cancer researchers to identify somatic mutations and gene expression signatures at a rapid pace so that novel diagnostic orprognostic biomarkers, as well as therapeutic targets, can be discovered much faster than before. Indeed, deep sequencing studies haverecently revealed that lymphoma-specific somatic mutations may be detected in cell-free circulating DNA obtained from the peripheralblood of B cell lymphoma patients, suggesting the possibility of minimally invasive diagnosis, monitoring, and predicting response totherapy of B cell lymphoma patients. In this study, the current status of the recurrent genetic aberrations observed during diagnosis and/or relapse in HL and the major subtypes of B cell NHL (i.e. diffuse large B cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma,and Burkitt lymphoma) are discussed to shed light on their potential use as noninvasive diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers and toreveal their role in lymphomagenesis as a target in therapy for newly diagnosed and chemotherapy-resistant cases.