Deubiquitinase OTUD7B is a potential prognostic biomarker in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

OTUD7B is a deubiquitinase and has been reported as a prognostic factor in various solid tumors. However, its prognostic value in lymphoma patients remains unclear. We detected OTUD7B expression levels in 160 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) tissue samples by immunohistochemistry, and analyzed correlations between its expression and clinic-pathologic parameters as well as clinical outcomes. We also investigated association between OTUD7B expression and chemotherapeutic drugs anti-tumor activity in vitro. We found that OTUD7B overexpressed in 129 (80.6%) cases, and patients with overexpression of OTUD7B experienced better overall survival comparing to those with OTUD7B low expression (P=0.021). Multivariate Cox regression analysis illustrated that OTUD7B was an independent prognostic indicator. In DLBCL cell lines, we found that Chidamide could up-regulate OTUD7B in several DLBCL cell lines, and also had synergistic effect with doxorubicin at low concentration. Our data illustrated that OTUD7B deficiency is a negative predictor of clinical outcome, and might be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.