B cells gone rogue: the intersection of diffuse large B cell lymphoma and autoimmune disease

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is characterized by genetic, genomic and clinical heterogeneity. Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) have recently been shown to represent significant risk factors for development of DLBCL.

Areas covered: Studies that examined the relationships between AIDs and lymphoma in terms of pathogenesis, genetic lesions, and treatment were identified in the MEDLINE database using combinations of medical subject heading (MeSH) terms. Co-authors independently performed study selection for inclusion based on appropriateness of the study question and nature of the study design and sample size.

Expert commentary: Identification of AID as a substantial risk factor for DLBCL raises new questions regarding how autoimmunity influences lymphomagenesis and disease behavior. It will be important to identify whether DLBCL cases arising in the setting of AID harbor inferior prognoses, and, if so, whether they also exhibit certain molecular abnormalities that may be targeted to overcome such a gap in clinical outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• B cell
• lymphoma
• non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• diffuse large B cell lymphoma
• autoimmune disease
• systemic lupus erythematosus
• epidemiology

Declaration of interests

This work was supported in part by National Cancer Institute [R21 CA158686-01A1] and [1U01CA195568], the Lymphoma Epidemiology of Outcomes (LEO) Cohort Study. CR Flowers has been an unpaid consultant for Gilead and Genentech/Roche and a paid consultant for OptumRx. Emory University receives research funding for his work from: Abbvie, Acerta, Celgene, Genentech/Roche, Gilead, Infinity, Millennium and TG Therapeutics. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.