Transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large cell lymphoma is associated with a heterogeneous set of DNA copy number and gene expression alterations.

AbstractGenomic aberrations in a series of paired biopsy samples from patients who presented initially with follicle center lymphoma (FCL) and subsequently transformed to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were measured by array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). The consequences of these aberrations on gene expression were determined by comparison with expression analysis on these specimens using cDNA microarrays. A heterogeneous pattern of acquired genomic abnormalities was observed upon transformation, some of which were recurrent in small subsets of patients. Some of the genomic aberration acquired upon transformation, such as gain/amplification of 1q21-q24, 2p16 (REL/BCL11A ge…