Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
VDJ-Seq: Deep Sequencing Analysis of Rearranged Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Gene to Reveal Clonal Evolution Patterns of B Cell Lymphoma
Published on: December 28, 2015
Correlations between BCL6 rearrangement and outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with CHOP
Jesse Shustik1, Guangming Han, Pedro Farinha
1Division of Medical Oncology, Laboratory Medicine, BC Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Background:
BCL6 gene rearrangement is the most frequent chromosomal abnormality in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a malignancy characterized by genetic heterogeneity and wide variability in clinical outcome. The prognostic significance of BCL6 rearrangement has not been evaluated in the context of rituximab therapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. We analyzed the effect of the BCL6 rearrangement on survival in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with CHOP and CHOP plus rituximab (R-CHOP).
Design And Methods:
BCL6 rearrangement status was analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization with break-apart probes in 164 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with CHOP (n=65) or R-CHOP (n=99). Cell-of-origin immunophenotype including BCL6 protein expression were determined by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray.
Results:
BCL6 rearrangement was detected in 19.5% of cases. The presence of the gene rearrangement was associated with a non-germinal center B-cell immunophenotype (P=0.006), and showed no correlation with BCL6 protein expression. A trend toward inferior overall survival was observed in association with the BCL6 rearrangement among patients treated with R-CHOP (P=0.08), but not among patients treated with CHOP (P=0.64). However, BCL6 rearrangement also correlated with a high International Prognostic Index score (P=0.02), and did not demonstrate independent prognostic value by multivariate analysis.
Conclusions:
The introduction of rituximab may have altered the prognostic impact of BCL6 gene rearrangement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. However, prospective analysis within large randomized clinical trials will be needed to clarify the prognostic significance of this biomarker in the rituximab era.
