Authors
Marius Rohde, Bettina R. Bonn, Martin Zimmermann, Jonas Lange, Anja Möricke, Wolfram Klapper, Ilske Oschlies, Monika Szczepanowski, Inga Nagel, Martin Schrappe, Markus Loeffler, Reiner Siebert, Alfred Reiter, Birgit Burkhardt
Abstract
Mature B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the most common subtype of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in childhood and adolescence. B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma are further classified into histological subtypes, with Burkitt lymphoma and Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma being the most common subgroups in pediatric patients. Translocations involving the MYC oncogene are known as relevant but not sufficient hit for Burkitt lymphoma pathogenesis. Recently published large-scale next-generation sequencing studies unveiled sets of additional recurrently mutated genes in samples of pediatric and adult B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. ID3, TCF3 and CCND3 are potential drivers of Burkitt-lymphomagenesis. In the present study frequency and clinical relevance of mutations in ID3, TCF3 and CCND3 were analyzed within a well-defined cohort of 84 uniformly diagnosed and treated pediatric B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients of the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster group (NHL-BFM). Mutation frequency was 78% (ID3), 13% (TCF3) and 36% (CCND3) in Burkitt lymphoma (including Burkitt leukemia). ID3 and CCND3 mutations were associated with more advanced stages of the disease in MYC rearrangement positive Burkitt lymphoma. In conclusion ID3-TCF3-CCND3 pathway genes are mutated in more than 88% of MYC-rearranged pediatric B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the pathway may represent a highly relevant second hit of Burkitt lymphoma pathogenesis especially in children and adolescents.