Publication:

Prognostic impact of BCL2, BCL6 and MYC status in de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a regional study of 43 patients

Background Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma with marked biologic heterogeneity. We aimed to evaluate the status of MYC, BCL2, BCL6 in patients with DLBCL.

Methods Herein, we have investigated the prognostic relevance of MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 from 43 de novo DLBCL patients.

Results In this study, protein overexpression of BCL2 and BCL6 was encountered in 46.5% (n=20) and 27.9% (n=12) of the tumors, respectively.  Rearrangements in MYC, BCL6, and BCL2 were detected in 9.3% (n=4), 25.6% (n=11), and 4.7% (n=2) of the cases, respectively. Any statistically significant difference could not be found between Bcl-2, Bcl-6 expression, C-MYC rearrangement and the survival.

Conclusions We concluded that C-MYC and BCL2 may contribute to aggressive transformation, so more mechanism-based therapy should be explored. A larger study is warranted to better understand the immunophenotypic and molecular features of DLBCL and their respective impact on patient survival.