New targeted therapies for hematological malignancy include chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells), Bi-specific T-cell Engager (BiTE) blinatumomab, and the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) of calicheamicin inotuzumab ozogamicin for acute lymphoblasic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoma; the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3Kδ) inhibitor idelalisib for lymphoma and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitors, such as midostaurin, sorafenib and gilteritinib for acute myeloid leukemia (AML); and the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax for a range of hematological malignancies including lymphoma and leukemia.
Overexpression and gain-of-function mutations in EZH2 are regarded as oncogenic drivers in lymphoma and other malignancies due to the silencing of tumor suppressors and differentiation genes.
Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and Bcl-2 gene rearrangement or protein upregulation played pivotal roles in the carcinogenesis of various malignancies including lymphomas.
Aggressive lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 translocations ("double hit" lymphomas, DHL) represent a distinct diagnostic category in the updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification.
Notably, Rac1 expression, and its interaction with Bcl-2, positively correlate with S70pBcl-2 levels in patient-derived lymphoma tissues and with advanced stage lymphoma and melanoma.
Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), an H3K27-specific histone methyltransferase, has been shown to be frequently overexpressed in various human cancers including lymphoma.
The expression levels of MMP-9 and Bcl-2 were correlated with the body weight loss degree of mice, and the expression of MMP-9 was positively associated with that of BCL-2 in lymphomas.
However, no associations were found between DAPK methylation and clinicopathological features of lymphoma, in relation to gender (OR = 1.07, 95% CI (0.72, 1.59), P = 0.751), age (OR = 1.01, 95% CI (0.66, 1.55), P = 0.974), international prognostic index (OR = 1.20, 95% CI (0.63, 2.27), P = 0.575), B symptoms (OR = 0.76, 95% CI (0.38, 1.51), P = 0.452), serum lactate dehydrogenase (OR = 1.13, 95% CI (0.62, 2.05), P = 0.683), and BCL-2 expression (OR = 1.55, 95% CI (0.91, 2.66), P = 0.106).
Amongst hematologic malignancies, these lymphomas are particular in that they express very low levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2), a recognized inhibitor of apoptosis and autophagy, two processes that share complex interconnections.
Our analysis provided a novel look on the transition range between FL and DLBCL, on DLBCL with poor prognosis showing expression patterns resembling that of Burkitt's lymphoma and particularly on 'double-hit' MYC and BCL2 transformed lymphomas.
In line with a tumor-suppressive role, ARF-deficient mice develop lymphomas, sarcomas, and adenocarcinomas, with a median survival rate of one year of age.
Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and Bcl-2 gene rearrangement or protein upregulation played pivotal roles in the carcinogenesis of various malignancies including lymphomas.
Thus, constitutive IP<sub>3</sub> signaling in lymphoma and leukemia cells is not only important for cancer cell survival, but also represents a vulnerability, rendering cancer cells dependent on Bcl-2 to limit IP<sub>3</sub>R activity.
Double/triple-hit lymphomas (DHL/THL) account for 5-10% of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with rearrangement of MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 resulting in MYC overexpression.
We identified 122 patients diagnosed as having large B-cell lymphoma (44, MYC-negative; 29, MYC-EC; 23, MYC rearrangement; 22, MYC and BCL2 rearrangements; 4, MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 rearrangements). p53 expression significantly correlated with DLBCL with abnormal MYC status (MYC-EC, MYC rearrangement, and MYC overexpression), but adverse p53 prognostic effect was only seen with MYC-rearranged lymphoma.
Furthermore, the overexpression of EZH2, in association with coexpression of tumorigenic signaling molecules, suggests an oncogenic role for this molecule in the development of Hodgkin lymphomas and related lymphomas.
2019; published online January 28, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0338-y) examined the effects of mutant EZH2 on the 3D architecture of the lymphoma genome, highlighting the potential relevance of chromatin folding dynamics.