Molecularly Stratified Treatment Options in Primary Refractory DLBCL/HGBL with MYC and BCL2 or BCL6 Rearrangements (HGBL, NOS with MYC/BCL6)

Hanno M. Witte*, Jörg Riedl, Axel Künstner, Anke Fähnrich, Julius Ketzer, Stephanie M.J. Fliedner, Niklas Reimer, Veronica Bernard, Nikolas von Bubnoff, Hartmut Merz, Hauke Busch, Alfred Feller, Niklas Gebauer

*Corresponding author for this work
2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence supporting multidisciplinary molecular tumor boards (MTB) in solid tumors whereas hematologic malignancies remain underrepresented in this regard. Objective: The present study aimed to assess the clinical relevance of MTBs in primary refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphomas/high-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements (prDLBCL/HGBL-MYC/BCL2) (n = 13) and HGBL, not otherwise specified (NOS), with MYC and BCL6 rearrangements (prHGBL, NOS-MYC/BCL6) (n = 6) based on our previously published whole-exome sequencing (WES) cohort. Patients and Methods: For genomic analysis, the institutional MTB WES pipeline (University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein: UCCSH), certified for routine clinical diagnostics, was employed and supplemented by a comprehensive immunohistochemical work-up. Consecutive database research and annotation according to established evidence levels for molecularly stratified therapies was performed (NCT-DKTK/ESCAT). Results: Molecularly tailored treatment options with NCT-DKTK evidence level of at least m2A were identified in each case. We classified mutations in accordance with biomarker/treatment baskets and detected a heterogeneous spectrum of targetable alterations affecting immune evasion (IE; n = 30), B-cell targets (BCT; n = 26), DNA damage repair (DDR; n = 20), tyrosine kinases (TK; n = 13), cell cycle (CC; n = 7), PI3K-MTOR-AKT pathway (PAM; n = 2), RAF-MEK-ERK cascade (RME; n = 1), and others (OTH; n = 11). Conclusion: Our virtual MTB approach identified potential molecularly targeted treatment options alongside targetable genomic signatures for both prDLBCL/HGBL-MYC/BCL2 and prHGBL, NOS-MYC/BCL6. These results underline the potential of MTB consultations in difficult-to-treat lymphomas early in the treatment sequence.

Original languageEnglish
JournalTargeted Oncology
Volume18
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)749-765
Number of pages17
ISSN1776-2596
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 09.2023

Funding

NR, AK, and HB acknowledge computational support from the OMICS compute cluster at the University of Lübeck. HB acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy – EXC 22167-390884018. AK and NK acknowledge computational support from the OMICS compute cluster at the University of Lübeck. HW, NG, JR, AF, JK, VB, HM, AF, SF and NvB declare that they have no conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this manuscript.

Research Areas and Centers

  • Research Area: Luebeck Integrated Oncology Network (LION)
  • Centers: University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein (UCCSH)
  • Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)

DFG Research Classification Scheme

  • 2.22-14 Hematology, Oncology
  • 2.21-05 Immunology

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