Differential Genetic and Functional Markers of Second Neoplasias in Hodgkin's Disease Patients

Genome-wide association study of classical Hodgkin lymphoma identifies key regulators of disease susceptibility

Several susceptibility loci for classical Hodgkin lymphoma have been reported. However, much of the heritable risk is unknown. Here, we perform a meta-analysis of two existing genome-wide association studies, a new genome-wide association study, and replication totalling 5,314 cases and 16,749 controls. We identify risk loci for all classical Hodgkin lymphoma at 6q22.33 (rs9482849, P = 1.52 × 10-8) and for nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma at 3q28 (rs4459895, P = 9.43 × 10-17), 6q23.3 (rs6928977, P = 4.62 × 10-11), 10p14 (rs3781093, P = 9.49 × 10-13), 13q34 (rs112998813, P = 4.58 × 10-8) and 16p13.13 (rs34972832, P = 2.12 × 10-8). Additionally, independent loci within the HLA region are observed for nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma (rs9269081, HLA-DPB1*03:01, Val86 in HLA-DRB1) and mixed cellularity Hodgkin lymphoma (rs1633096, rs13196329, Val86 in HLA-DRB1). The new and established risk loci localise to areas of active chromatin and show an over-representation of transcription factor binding for determinants of B-cell development and immune response.

Increased BATF expression is associated with the severity of liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B

T helper (Th) 17 cells have a critical role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and basic leucine zipper transcription factor, ATF-like (BATF) is a newly identified transcriptional factor regulating the differentiation of Th17 cells. However, its precise role in patients with chronic hepatitis B remains unclear. Sixty chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, twenty-two acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (ACHBLF) patients and seventeen healthy controls were included in our study. Both peripheral and intrahepatic expressions of BATF were analyzed by flow cytometry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining. Peripheral BATF mRNA and protein expression levels were higher in CHB patients than those in healthy controls. Particularly in ACHBLF patients, the BATF mRNA and protein levels were further increased over those in CHB patients. Intrahepatic BATF-positive infiltrating cells were enriched in portal area of CHB patients, and more positive cells were found in patients with higher inflammation grade. Peripheral BATF expression was positively correlated with serum parameters of liver injury and plasma HBV DNA load. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the frequency of BATF-positive CD3⁺ T cells and the increased Th17 response in chronic HBV-infected patients. BATF over-expression might augment Th17 cell response and relate to the disease progression of CHB.

Comet Assay in Cancer Chemoprevention

The comet assay can be useful in monitoring DNA damage in single cells caused by exposure to genotoxic agents, such as those causing air, water, and soil pollution (e.g., pesticides, dioxins, electromagnetic fields) and chemo- and radiotherapy in cancer patients, or in the assessment of genoprotective effects of chemopreventive molecules. Therefore, it has particular importance in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology, and in both environmental and human biomonitoring. It allows the detection of single strand breaks as well as double-strand breaks and can be used in both normal and cancer cells. Here we describe the alkali method for comet assay, which allows to detect both single- and double-strand DNA breaks.

Overexpression of Batf induces an apoptotic defect and an associated lymphoproliferative disorder in mice

Activator protein-1 (AP-1) is a dimeric transcription factor composed of the Jun, Fos and Atf families of proteins. Batf is expressed in the immune system and participates in AP-1 dimers that modulate gene expression in response to a variety of stimuli. Transgenic (Tg) mice overexpressing human BATF in T cells were generated using the human CD2 promoter (CD2-HA (hemagglutinin antigen) - BATF). By 1 year of age, over 90% of the mice developed a lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD). The enlarged lymph nodes characteristic of this LPD contain a polyclonal accumulation of T cells with a CD4⁺ bias, yet efforts to propagate these tumor cells in vitro demonstrate that they do not proliferate as well as wild-type CD4⁺ T cells. Instead, the accumulation of these cells is likely due to an apoptotic defect as CD2-HA-BATF Tg T cells challenged by trophic factor withdrawal in vitro resist apoptosis and display a pro-survival pattern of Bcl-2 family protein expression. As elevated levels of Batf expression are a feature of lymphoid tumors in both humans and mice, these observations support the use of CD2-HA-BATF mice as a model for investigating the molecular details of apoptotic dysregulation in LPD.

Predicting treatment outcome in classical Hodgkin lymphoma: genomic advances

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is considered a highly curable disease; however, 20% of patients cannot be cured with standard first-line chemotherapy and have a dismal outcome. Current clinical parameters do not allow accurate risk stratification, and personalized therapies are lacking. In fact, Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is often over- or undertreated because of this lack of accurate risk stratification. In recent years, the early detection of chemoresistance by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography has become the most important prognostic tool in the management of HL. However, to date, no prognostic scores or molecular markers are available for the early identification of patients at very high risk of failure of induction therapy. In the last decade, many important advances have been made in understanding the biology of HL. In particular, the development of new molecular profiling technologies, such as SNP arrays, comparative genomic hybridization, and gene-expression profiling, have allowed the identification of new prognostic factors that may be useful for risk stratification and predicting response to chemotherapy. In this review, we focus on the prognostic tools and biomarkers that are available for newly diagnosed HL, and we highlight recent advances in the genomic characterization of classical HL and potential targets for therapy.