IDH2 mutations are frequent in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) occur in most grade 2 and 3 gliomas, secondary glioblastomas, and a subset of acute myelogenous leukemias but have not been detected in other tumor types. The mutations occur at specific arginine residues and result in the acquisition of a novel enzymatic activity that converts 2-oxoglutarate to D-2-hydroxyglutarate. This study reports IDH1 and IDH2 genotyping results from a set of lymphomas, which included a large set of peripheral T-cell lymphomas. IDH2 mutations were identified in approximately 20% of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphomas (AITLs), but not in other peripheral T-cell lymphoma entities. These results were confirmed in an independent set of AITL patients, where the IDH2 mutation rate was approximately 45%. This is the second common genetic lesion identified in AITL after TET2 and extends the number of neoplastic diseases where IDH1 and IDH2 mutations may play a role.