High-Grade B-Cell Lymphoma (HGBL) with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 Rearrangements Is Predominantly BCL6-Rearranged and BCL6-Expressing in Taiwan

Simple Summary: This study highlights the epidemiological, cytogenetic and clinical difference between patients with multiple hit diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in Taiwan and those from western countries. Unlike in the West, the majority of patients with multiple hit lymphoma in Taiwan harbor a BCL6 rearrangement. Almost three in every five BCL6-rearranged double hit lymphoma cases in Taiwan are non-GCB phenotype, indicating, at least in part, that the preferential screening for double hit with BCL6 rearrangement may be a clinically-informative modality for patients with non-GCB phenotype DLBCL in Taiwan. This also suggests the need for a different treatment approach than is obtained in the West where BCL6 double hit lymphomas are seemingly GCB. Consistent with our present findings, mandatory screening for BCL6-rearrangement in suspected DLBCL cases in Taiwan may aid early diagnosis, therapy decision, and clinical outcome forecast. This study investigated the epidemiological and clinical peculiarities of BCL2 and BCL6 rearrangement in patients with high grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL) from Taiwan, compared with data from Western countries. Two hundred and eighty-two DLBCL cases from Taipei Medical University-affiliated hospitals (n = 179) and Tri-Service General Hospital (n = 103) were enrolled for this study. From the 282, 47 (16.7%) had MYC translocation; 24 of these harbored concurrent BCL2 and/or BCL6 translocation (double-hit, DH or triple-hit, TH). Twelve DH-HGBL cases had simultaneous MYC and BCL6 translocations, 8 harbored MYC and BCL2 rearrangement, while the remaining 4 patients exhibited TH. Together, 66.7% of DH/TH-HGBL patients were BCL6 rearrangement positive. Among these BCL6-rearranged DH/TH-HGBL patients, only 6 (37.5%) overexpressed MYC and BCL6 proteins simultaneously, indicating that MYC-BCL6 co-overexpression may not be plausible surrogate biomarker for screening BCL6-rearranged DH-HGBL. By the end of year 5, all patients with TH-HGBL, BCL2 DH-HGBL and all but one BCL6 DH-HGBL cases had expired or were lost to follow-up. Progression-free survival (PFS) was longer for the non-DH/TH-HGBL group compared with the DH/TH-HGBL group. While the patients with BCL2 DH-HGBL were lost to follow-up by day 800, their remaining TH-HGBL and BCL6 DH-HGBL peers exhibited very poor PFS, regardless of age strata. More so, patients with BCL6 rearrangement were 5.5-fold more likely associated with extranodal involvement compared with their BCL2-rearranged peers. Moreover, similar to 60.0% of the BCL6-rearranged DH-HGBL cases were non-GCB, suggesting that including screening for BCL6 rearrangement in patients with the non-GCB phenotype may aid medical decision-making and therapeutic strategy. Contrary to contemporary data from western countries, 2 in every 3 patients with DH/TH-HGBL in Taiwan harbor BCL6 rearrangement. Consistent with present findings, we recommend mandatory screening for BCL6 rearrangement in patients with aggressive HGBL in Taiwan.

Automated summary

This study compared the epidemiological, cytogenetic, and clinical differences between patients with multiple hit diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in Taiwan and those in western countries. The majority of patients in Taiwan harbor a BCL6 rearrangement, suggesting the need for mandatory screening for BCL6 rearrangement in aggressive HGBL patients in Taiwan. Contrary to data from western countries, a significant proportion of patients in Taiwan with DH/TH-HGBL have BCL6 rearrangement.