Premium
Profiling of apoptosis genes identifies distinct types of primary cutaneous large B cell lymphoma
Author(s) -
van Galen JC,
Hoefnagel JJ,
Vermeer MH,
Willemze R,
Dijkman R,
Tensen CP,
de Boer WPH,
Meijer CJ,
Oudejans JJ
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.2374
Subject(s) - apoptosis , gene expression profiling , biology , cytotoxic t cell , immune system , lymphoma , effector , gene , cancer research , immunology , cluster of differentiation , gene expression , cell , genetics , in vitro
Two distinct primary cutaneous large B cell lymphomas are recognized: primary cutaneous follicle centre lymphoma (PCFCL), characterized by an excellent prognosis, and primary cutaneous large B cell lymphoma, leg‐type (PCLBCL leg‐type), with an unfavourable prognosis. To determine whether inhibition of the apoptosis pathways may underlie the difference in clinical outcome between PCFCL and PCLBCL leg‐type, we investigated the expression of only apoptosis‐related genes by microarray expression profiling. Unsupervised cluster analysis was carried out using 169 genes involved in apoptosis on a group of 21 previously untreated patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous large B cell lymphoma. Cluster analysis resulted in two separate groups which showed large overlap with the PCFCL and PCLBCL leg‐type. One group was characterized by high expression levels of pro‐ and anti‐apoptotic genes. The other group was characterized by high expression levels of apoptosis‐inducing cytotoxic effector genes, possibly reflecting a cellular cytotoxic immune response. Our results suggest that the clinically favourable PCFCLs are characterized by a relatively intense cellular cytotoxic immune response and that PCLBCL leg‐types are characterized by constitutive activation of the intrinsic mediated apoptosis pathway, with concomitant downstream inhibition of this apoptosis pathway. Thus, strategies neutralizing the function of apoptosis‐inhibiting proteins might be effective in PCLBCL leg‐type. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.