Enhanced DNA repair and genomic stability identify a novel HIV related Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma subtype [nanostring]

Transcriptional and genomic profiling study of HIV positive and HIV negative Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Tumors were subtyped using the Lymph2Cx assay. Only GCB (germinal center like B-cell) subtypes were then subjected to digitial gene expression profiling and array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH). The study used total RNA extracted from FFPE DLBCL tumors derived from HIV(+) and HIV(-) patients to assess differential expression of known cancer genes. Gene expression was correlated with IHC and array CGH data. Digital gene expression profiling of 739 cancer related genes was performed on 19 HIV positive and 21 HIV negative GCB-DLBCL samples using the PanCancer Pathways panel and nCounter Technology from NanoString with customized spike-ins. DLBCL is more agressive in HIV(+) patients compared to HIV(-) individuals. Study objective was to identify novel markers and potential therapeutic targets that contribute to the enhanced agressive nature of this disease in HIV infected individuals.