Clinicopathologic, Genomic and Gene Expression Features of Sox11-Positive Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of malignant lymphoma. It is an aggressive malignant tumor which is clinically heterogeneous. Finding clinically relevant biomarkers or therapeutic targets could improve the treatment response and help to establish a personalized therapy for DLBCL patients.SOX11 is a transcription factor involved in the development of central nervous system during embryogenesis. It was found to be a highly specific marker for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Previously, other groups found only one case of SOX11-positive DLBCL (0.6%) out of 164 cases of DLBCL.Previously, we found that cyclin D1 negativity is surprisingly common in pleomorphic MCL which morphologically mimics DLBCL. In that study, we also reported one case of SOX11-positive DLBCL, and this case lacked the CCND2 translocation and some copy number alterations commonly found in pleomorphic MCL, suggesting that SOX11-positive DLBCL is different from pleomorphic MCL. However, further studies on more cases of SOX-11 positive DLBCL are needed to clarify the nature of these uncommon tumors.Recently, we conducted a pilot study on four cases of SOX11-positive DLBCL regarding the clinicopathologic, genetic and epigenetic features (unpublished data). Our preliminary results suggest that SOX11-positive DLBCL has unique clinicopathologic and genetic features with some resemblance to pleomorphic MCL, and further investigation on more cases are needed.In the first year, we will identify more cases of SOX11-positive DLBCL and to clarify the clinicopathologic features of SOX11-positive DLBCL. Cases of SOX11-negative DLBCL and pleomorphic MCL will be included for comparison.In the second year, we will clarify the genomic and gene expression features of SOX11-positive DLBCL. Their results will be compared with those of SOX11-positive DLBCL and pleomorphic MCL.

Project ID:PC10708-1245
External Project ID:MOST107-2320-B182-039