Becker, Nikolaus

Abstract Background Recent genome wide association studies (GWAS) of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) have identified several associations at both HLA and non-HLA loci. However, much of HL heritability remains unexplained. Methods To identify novel risk loci, we performed a meta-analysis of 3 HL GWAS including a total of 1,810 cases and 7,879 controls. Results were replicated in an independent set of 1,163 cases and 2,580 controls, for a total of 3,097 and 11,097 cases and controls combined, respectively. participants in discovery and replication stages were of European descent. quality control and imputation we conducted a meta-analysis addressing 1,004,829 variants (λ= 1.10, λ1000= 1.03). Associations between SNP genotypes and HL risk were evaluated under a log-additive model of inheritance adjusting for sex, study center and significant principal components to control for population stratification. We performed an analysis with all HL cases and then conducted stratified analyses by histological subtype (classical, nodular sclerosis and mixed cellularity), age at diagnosis (nodular sclerosis among those diagnosed at 15- 35 years in all studies, and those diagnosed at 35 and older years in the European Study only) and EBV tumor status (negative and positive). We then used a bioinformatic approach (FunciSNP) to identify potential functional variants associated with HD risk correlated with risk loci of interest. We extracted publically available ENCODE data on biofeatures to identify potential functional motifs associated with the index SNP or correlated SNPs. Finally, we measured expression levels of the two alternative mRNA transcripts in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from 49 post-therapy HL patients and 25 unaffected controls. RT-PCR was carried out in triplicate. Relative expression levels were calculated relative to TBP as housekeeping gene. Linear models were used to assess correlation between genotype and TCF3expression levels. Results The meta-analysis identified a novel susceptibility variant at chromosome 19p13.3 (rs1860661) associated with HL risk (Odds Ratio [OR]= 0.78, P=2.0*10-8, I2=0%). variant is located in intron 2 of TCF3 (also known as E2A), a regulator of B- and T-cell lineage commitment. was also significantly associated with HL (OR= 0.85, P=0.002) in the replication series of 1,281 cases and 3,218 controls. the combined analysis consisting of the discovery and replication sets, rs1860661was strongly associated with HL (OR=0.81,=3.5*10-10), with no evidence of heterogeneity between contributing studies (Phom=0.41, I2=0%). The number of G alleles defined by rs1860661 was significantly associated with a reduced risk of each HL subtype except EBV positive HL. rs1860661 and two correlated SNPs, rs10413888 (r2=0.90) and rs8103453 (r2=0.89) identified by FunciSNP analysis map in or near marks of open chromatin and in DNAse hypersensitivity sites in TCF3 in CD20+ B cell lines., the protective minor alleles of these SNPs as defined by the G-G-G haplotype map to the binding sites for ZBTB7a (rs10413888 and rs1860661) and (rs8103453) transcription factors, likely improving the binding efficiency to the sites which may result in increased transcription rates of TCF3. TCF3 is encoded by two alternative transcripts (E12 and E47). Higher expression levels of TCF3-E47, whose transcription start site is located close to rs1860661, was associated with the rs1860661-G allele in controls (P=0.02), but not in HL patients (P=0.22). Conclusion/Discussion TCF3 is essential for the commitment of lymphoid progenitors to both B-cell and T-cell lineage development. A molecular and phenotypic hallmark of classical HL is the loss of the B-cell phenotype in HRS cells, including lack of demonstrable B-cell receptor and most B-cell specific markers such as CD19 or CD20. HRS cells have a low level of TCF3, particularly homodimers of the isoform E47, due to expression of the ABF-1 and ID2 inhibitors that bind to TCF3. Thus, higher TCF3 levels in HRS precursor cells may lead to enhanced retention of the B cell phenotype, thereby conferring a protective effect. These data suggest a link between the 19p13.3 locus including TCF3 and HL risk, indicating that TCF3 could be relevant to HL etiology and pathogenesis. Disclosures: Link: Genentech: Consultancy; Millenium: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Spectrum: Consultancy.

AbstractEpidemiologic studies show an increased risk of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in patients with autoimmune disease (AD), due to a combination of shared environmental factors and/or genetic factors, or a causative cascade: chronic inflammation/antigen‐stimulation in one disease leads to another. Here we assess shared genetic risk in genome‐wide‐association‐studies (GWAS).Secondary analysis of GWAS of NHL subtypes (chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and marginal zone lymphoma) and ADs (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis). Shared genetic risk was assessed by (a) description of regional genetic of overlap, (b) polygenic risk score (PRS), (c)"diseasome", (d)meta‐analysis.Descriptive analysis revealed few shared genetic factors between each AD and each NHL subtype. The PRS of ADs were not increased in NHL patients (nor vice versa). In the diseasome, NHLs shared more genetic etiology with ADs than solid cancers (p = .0041). A meta‐analysis (combing AD with NHL) implicated genes of apoptosis and telomere length.This GWAS‐based analysis four NHL subtypes and three ADs revealed few weakly‐associated shared loci, explaining little total risk. This suggests common genetic variation, as assessed by GWAS in these sample sizes, may not be the primary explanation for the link between these ADs and NHLs.

Abstract A growing number of loci within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region have been implicated in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) etiology. Here, we test a complementary hypothesis of “heterozygote advantage” regarding the role of HLA and NHL, whereby HLA diversity is beneficial and homozygous HLA loci are associated with increased disease risk. HLA alleles at class I and II loci were imputed from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using SNP2HLA for 3,617 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL), 2,686 follicular lymphomas (FL), 2,878 chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphomas (CLL/SLL), 741 marginal zone lymphomas (MZL), and 8,753 controls of European descent. Both DLBCL and MZL risk were elevated with homozygosity at class I HLA-B and -C loci (OR DLBCL = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06–1.60; OR MZL = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.12–1.89) and class II HLA-DRB1 locus (OR DLBCL = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.24–3.55; OR MZL = 2.10, 95% CI = 0.99–4.45). Increased FL risk was observed with the overall increase in number of homozygous HLA class II loci (P trend < 0.0001, FDR = 0.0005). These results support a role for HLA zygosity in NHL etiology and suggests that distinct immune pathways may underly the etiology of the different NHL subtypes. Significance: HLA gene diversity reduces risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Res; 78(14); 4086–96. ©2018 AACR.

Objective Determinants of the increased risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in SLE are unclear. Using data from a recent lymphoma genome-wide association study (GWAS), we assessed whether certain lupus-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also associated with DLBCL. Methods GWAS data on European Caucasians from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) provided a total of 3857 DLBCL cases and 7666 general-population controls. Data were pooled in a random-effects meta-analysis. Results Among the 28 SLE-related SNPs investigated, the two most convincingly associated with risk of DLBCL included the CD40 SLE risk allele rs4810485 on chromosome 20q13 (OR per risk allele=1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.16, p=0.0134), and the HLA SLE risk allele rs1270942 on chromosome 6p21.33 (OR per risk allele=1.17, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.36, p=0.0362). Of additional possible interest were rs2205960 and rs12537284. The rs2205960 SNP, related to a cytokine of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily TNFSF4, was associated with an OR per risk allele of 1.07, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.16, p=0.0549. The OR for the rs12537284 (chromosome 7q32, IRF5 gene) risk allele was 1.08, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.18, p=0.0765. Conclusions These data suggest several plausible genetic links between DLBCL and SLE.

AbstractMany common genetic variants have been associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but individual study results are often conflicting. To confirm the role of putative risk alleles in B-cell NHL etiology, we performed a validation genotyping study of 67 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms within InterLymph, a large international consortium of NHL case-control studies. A meta-analysis was performed on data from 5633 B-cell NHL cases and 7034 controls from 8 InterLymph studies. rs3789068 in the proapoptotic BCL2L11 gene was associated with an increased risk for B-cell NHL (odds ratio = 1.21, P random = 2.21 × 10−11), with similar risk estimates for common B-cell subtypes. PRRC2A rs3132453 in the HLA complex class III region conferred a reduced risk of B-cell NHL (odds ratio = 0.68, P random = 1.07 × 10−9) and was likewise evident for common B-cell subtypes. These results are consistent with the known biology of NHL and provide insights into shared pathogenic components, including apoptosis and immune regulation, for the major B-cell lymphoma subtypes.

AbstractWe performed a pooled analysis of data on atopic disease and risk of non–Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) from 13 case-control studies, including 13,535 NHL cases and 16,388 controls. Self-reported atopic diseases diagnosed 2 years or more before NHL diagnosis (cases) or interview (controls) were analyzed. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were computed in two-stage random-effects or joint fixed-effects models, and adjusted for age, sex, and study center. When modeled individually, lifetime history of asthma, hay fever, specific allergy (excluding hay fever, asthma, and eczema), and food allergy were associated with a significant reduction in NHL risk, and there was no association for eczema. When each atopic condition was included in the same model, reduced NHL risk was only associated with a history of allergy (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68–0.94) and reduced B-cell NHL risk was associated with history of hay fever (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.77–0.95) and allergy (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76–0.93). Significant reductions in B-cell NHL risk were also observed in individuals who were likely to be truly or highly atopic—those with hay fever, allergy, or asthma and at least one other atopic condition over their lifetime. The inverse associations were consistent for the diffuse large B-cell and follicular subtypes. Eczema was positively associated with lymphomas of the skin; misdiagnosis of lymphoma as eczema is likely, but progression of eczema to cutaneous lymphoma cannot be excluded. This pooled study shows evidence of a modest but consistent reduction in the risk of B-cell NHL associated with atopy. [Cancer Res 2009;69(16):6482–9]

Abstract Some autoimmune disorders are increasingly recognized as risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) overall, but large-scale systematic assessments of risk of NHL subtypes are lacking. We performed a pooled analysis of self-reported autoimmune conditions and risk of NHL and subtypes, including 29 423 participants in 12 case-control studies. We computed pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in a joint fixed-effects model. Sjögren syndrome was associated with a 6.5-fold increased risk of NHL, a 1000-fold increased risk of parotid gland marginal zone lymphoma (OR = 996; 95% CI, 216-4596), and with diffuse large B-cell and follicular lymphomas. Systemic lupus erythematosus was associated with a 2.7-fold increased risk of NHL and with diffuse large B-cell and marginal zone lymphomas. Hemolytic anemia was associated with diffuse large B-cell NHL. T-cell NHL risk was increased for patients with celiac disease and psoriasis. Results for rheumatoid arthritis were heterogeneous between studies. Inflammatory bowel disorders, type 1 diabetes, sarcoidosis, pernicious anemia, and multiple sclerosis were not associated with risk of NHL or subtypes. Thus, specific autoimmune disorders are associated with NHL risk beyond the development of rare NHL subtypes in affected organs. The pattern of associations with NHL subtypes may harbor clues to lymphomagenesis.

AbstractA role for genetic susceptibility in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is supported by the accumulating evidence of common genetic variations altering NHL risk. However, the pattern of NHL heritability remains poorly understood. We conducted a pooled analysis of 10 211 NHL cases and 11 905 controls from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph) to evaluate NHL risk among those with hematopoietic malignancies in first-degree relatives. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of NHL and its subtypes were estimated from unconditional logistic regression models with adjustment for confounders. NHL risk was elevated for individuals who reported first-degree relatives with NHL (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2-1.9), Hodgkin lymphoma (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1-2.3), and leukemia (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.2-2.7). Risk was highest among individuals who reported a brother with NHL (OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.6-4.8) and was consistent for all NHL subtypes evaluated. If a first-degree relative had Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL risk was highest if the relative was a parent (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.0-2.9). If a first-degree relative had leukemia, NHL risk was highest among women who reported a sister with leukemia (OR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.6-5.6). The pattern of NHL heritability appeared to be uniform across NHL subtypes, but risk patterns differed by specific hematopoietic malignancies and the sex of the relative, revealing critical clues to disease etiology.