Superior survival in diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the bone with immune rich tumor microenvironment

Ruben A. L. de Groen, Fleur A. de Groot, Stefan Bohringer, Esther J. Kret, Lorraine M. de Haan, Troy Noordenbos, Susan Blommers, Romee E. W. Jansen, Tom van Wezel, Ronald van Eijk, Richard Raghoo, Dina Ruano, Liane te Boome, Valeska Terpstra, Henriette Levenga, Els Ahsmann, Eduardus F. M. Posthuma, Isabelle Focke-Snieders, Lizan Hardi, Wietske C. E. den HartogAnke van den Berg, Pim Mutsaers, King Lam, Marjolein W. M. van der Poel, Myrurgia Abdul Hamid, F. J. Sherida H. Woei-A-Jin, Ann Janssens, Thomas Tousseyn, Judith V. M. G. Bovee, Lianne Koens, Arjan Diepstra, Arjen H. G. Cleven, Marie Jose Kersten, Patty M. Jansen, Hendrik Veelken, Marcel Nijland, Tim J. A. Dekker, Joost S. P. Vermaat*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

With tumor genomic and gene-expression profiling (GEP), this study investigated the immune-molecular signatures of a unique cohort of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the bone (bone-DLBCL), including primary bone (PB-DLBCL, n = 52) and polyostotic-DLBCL (n = 20), in comparison to nodal DLBCLs with germinal center B-cell (GCB) phenotype (nodal-DLBCL-GCB, n = 34). PB-DLBCL and polyostotic-DLBCL shared similar genomic profiles and transcriptomic signatures, justifying their collective analysis as bone-DLBCL. Differential incidences of EZH2, HIST1H1E, and MYC aberrations (p < 0.05) confirmed the distinct oncogenic evolution between bone-DLBCL and nodal-DLBCL-GCB. Differentially expressed genes were identified between bone-DLBCL and nodal-DLBCL-GCB (p < 0.001), substantiated by distinct gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA). In contrast to a more 'depleted' phenotype for nodal-DLBCL-GCB, bone-DLBCL primarily exhibited an 'intermediate/rich' tumor microenvironment (TME) signature (p = 0.001), as determined by a previously published gene set. Unsupervised clustering defined two distinct groups that aligned with previously reported immune-enriched TME clusters: an 'immune-rich' cluster largely consisting of bone-DLBCLs (75%, p = 0.002) with superior survival (p = 0.030), and a poor-prognostic 'immune-low' cluster, including mostly nodal-DLBCL-GCB (61%). Single-sample (ss)GSEA showed higher scores for regulatory T cells, immunosuppressive/prolymphoma cytokines, and vascular endothelial cells in immune-rich samples (p < 0.001). Additionally, CIBERSORTx revealed a higher abundance of regulatory T cells and activated mast cells in the immune-rich cluster (p < 0.001). These findings were confirmed at protein level, where CD3 and FOXP3 immunochemistry showed significant overlap with the gene-expression data (p < 0.001). Conclusively, PB-DLBCL and polyostotic-DLBCL share immune-molecular TME characteristics, supporting their classification as a unified bone-DLBCL entity. The distinct immune-rich TME profile of bone-DLBCL associated with superior survival potentially shapes emerging immunomodulatory strategies
Original languageEnglish
Article number82
Number of pages13
JournalBlood Cancer Journal
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Apr 2025

Keywords

  • CLINICAL-FEATURES
  • GENE-EXPRESSION
  • PROGNOSIS
  • TISSUE
  • CLASSIFICATION
  • MANAGEMENT
  • SUBTYPES

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Superior survival in diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the bone with immune rich tumor microenvironment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this