Somatic copy number gains in MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 identifies a subset of aggressive alternative-DH/TH DLBCL patients

Abstract

Double/triple hit lymphoma (DH/TH), known as high-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL), is an aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), defined as having concurrent MYC, BCL2, and/or BCL6 gene rearrangements. While gene rearrangements represent significant genetic events in cancer, copy number alterations (CNAs) also play an important role, and their contributions to rearrangements have yet to be fully elucidated. Using FISH and high-resolution CNA data, we defined the landscape of concurrent gene rearrangements and copy gains in MYC, BCL2, and BCL6, in a cohort of 479 newly diagnosed DLBCL. We also show that concurrent translocations and copy number alterations, in combinations similar to DH/TH, identify a unique subset of DLBCL, alternative DH/TH, that have survival outcomes similar to DH/TH DLBCL patients.