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To determine the prognostic significance of co-expression of MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6 proteins in combination with other biomarkers and clinical characteristics within a population-based cohort of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients uniformly treated with R-CHOP.The immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of CD10, BCL-2, BCL-6, MUM1, MYC, CD5, CD30, Ki-67 and p53 was evaluated in a retrospective, population-based study comprising 188 DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP and diagnosed in Sweden between 2002 and 2012.Patients had a median age at diagnosis of 64 years (26-85 years) with a male:female ratio of 1.4:1. Approximately half (52%) of the patients presented with an International Prognostic Index (IPI) age adjusted (IPIaa) ≥ 2. Median follow-up time was 51 months (range 0.4-158) and the five-year lymphoma-specific survival (LSS) was 76%, five-year overall survival (OS) was 65% and five-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 61%. A high Ki-67 value was found in 59% of patients, while p53 overexpression was detected in 12% of patients and MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6 expression were detected in 42%, 55% and 74% of patients, respectively. IPIaa ≥2 (p = 0.002), Ki-67 ≥ 70% (p = 0.04) and p53 overexpression ≥50% (p = 0.02) were associated with inferior LSS and OS. Co-expression of both MYC (40%) and BCL-2 (70%) proteins was detected in 27% of patients and correlated with a significantly inferior LSS (p = 0.0002), OS (p = 0.009) and PFS (p = 0.03). In addition, triple expression of MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6, also correlated with a significantly inferior LSS (p = 0.02).Concurrent expression of MYC and BCL-2 proteins, as detected by IHC, was strongly associated with an inferior survival in DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP. Other markers affecting survival were triple expression of MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6, IPIaa, high Ki-67 and p53 overexpression.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) shows a higher incidence in males versus females. Epidemiological studies have shown that female gender is a favorable prognostic factor, which may be explained by estrogens. Here we show that when grafting human DLBCL cells to immunocompromised mice, tumor growth in males is faster. When treating mice grafted with either germinal center or activated B-cell like DLBCL cells with the selective estrogen receptor β (ERβ) agonist diarylpropionitrile, tumor growth was significantly inhibited. Furthermore, nuclear ERβ1 expression analysis in primary DLBCL's by immunohistochemistry revealed expression in 89% of the cases. Nuclear ERβ1 expression was in a univariate and multivariate analysis, an independent prognostic factor for adverse progression-free survival in Rituximab-chemotherapy treated DLBCL (p = 0.02 and p = 0.04, respectively). These results suggest that estrogen signaling through ERβ1 is an interesting future therapeutic target for treatment of DLBCL, and that ERβ1 expression can be used as a prognostic marker.

Background. Male breast cancer (MBC) is an uncommon disease and there is limited information on the prognostic impact of routinely used clinicopathological parameters. Material and methods. In a retrospective setting, we reviewed 197 MBC patients with accessible paraffin-embedded tumor tissue and clinicopathological data. Immunohistochemical (IHC) stainings were performed on tissue microarrays and histological grading on conventional slides. Cox proportional regression models were applied for uni- and multivariate analyses using breast cancer death as the event. Results. Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor positivity were demonstrated in 93% and 77% of patients, respectively. Nottingham histologic grade (NHG) III was seen in 41% and HER2 positivity in 11%. Classification into molecular subtypes using IHC markers according to three alternative definitions revealed luminal A and luminal B in 81% vs. 11%; 48% vs. 44% and 41% vs. 42% of cases. Two cases of basal-like were identified, but no cases of HER2-like. Factors associated with an increased risk of breast cancer death were node positivity (HR 4.5; 95% CI 1.8-11.1), tumor size >20 mm (HR 3.3; 95% CI 1.4-7.9) and ER negativity (HR 10.9; 95% CI 3.2-37.9). No difference in breast cancer death between the luminal subgroups was demonstrated, regardless of definition. Conclusion. MBC tumors were more often of high grade, whereas HER2 overexpression was as frequent as in FBC. Lymph nodes, tumor size and ER status were independent predictors of breast cancer death. The prognostic impact of molecular subtyping in MBC seems to differ from that previously established in FBC. (Less)

Little is known about mechanisms leading to secondary non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) in patients treated for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Our aim was to characterise in detail a cell line derived from a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that had developed in a patient with relapsing HL. The cell line U-2932 was established from ascites in a patient suffering from DLBCL previously treated for HL with multiple chemotherapy regimens. Characterisation was based on morphology, immunophenotype, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-status, IgH gene rearrangement status, tumourigenicity, p53 sequencing, and immunohistochemical expression of p53, BCL-2 and BCL-6. The karyotype was investigated using G-banding, comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) and spectral karyotype (SKY) analysis. This cell line shows typical morphological features of a DLBCL and grows as colonies in nude mice. It expresses a B-cell phenotype with a somatically hypermutated V(H)4-39 gene and is negative for EBV. The origin of U-2932 was confirmed by demonstrating an identical V(H)4 rearrangement in ascites from the patient. A point mutation of the tumour-suppressor gene p53 was detected in amino acid position 176 and immunohistochemical over-expression of the p53 protein was also demonstrated. U-2932 carries a complex karyotype including high-level amplifications of the chromosomal bands 18q21 and 3q27 and expresses aberrant BCL-2 and BCL-6 immunohistochemically. We were unable to investigate the clonal relationship between the original HL and U-2932. In conclusion, U-2932 is a unique B cell line established from a patient suffering from HL followed by NHL. Overexpression of BCL-2, BCL-6 and p53 may play a role in the tumourigenesis and drug resistance. This cell line may become a useful tool to better understand the mechanisms responsible for development of secondary NHL in patients treated for HL.