Taken together with previous reports, the present results suggest that two key transcription factors for the plasmacytic differentiation, XBP1 and BLIMP1, are involved in the pathogenesis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Here, we describe novel mutations in the BLIMP1 gene in 2 of 15 (13%) cases of B-cell lymphoma (two cases of primary effusion lymphoma and 13 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma).
Unexpectedly, a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma expressed PRDM1, lacked detectable plasmablastic or immunoblastic changes and displayed more aggressive behavior, with a shorter failure-free survival.