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Purpose: Patients with the activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) historically showed inferior survival with standard rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). Phase II studies demonstrated that adding the immunomodulatory agent lenalidomide to R-CHOP improved outcomes in ABC-type DLBCL. The goal of the global, phase III ROBUST study was to compare lenalidomide plus R-CHOP (R2-CHOP) with placebo/R-CHOP in previously untreated, ABC-type DLBCL., Methods: Histology and cell-of-origin type were prospectively analyzed by central pathology prior to random assignment and study treatment. Patients with ABC-DLBCL received lenalidomide oral 15 mg/d, days 1-14/21 plus standard R-CHOP21 versus placebo/R-CHOP21 for six cycles. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) per independent central radiology review., Results: A total of 570 patients with ABC-DLBCL (n = 285 per arm) were stratified by International Prognostic Index score, age, and bulky disease, and randomly assigned to R2-CHOP or placebo/R-CHOP. Baseline demographics were similar between arms. Most patients completed six cycles of treatment: 74% R2-CHOP and 84% placebo/R-CHOP. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events for R2-CHOP versus placebo/R-CHOP were neutropenia (60% v 48%), anemia (22% v 14%), thrombocytopenia (17% v 11%), and leukopenia (14% v 15%). The primary end point of PFS was not met, with a hazard ratio of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.63 to 1.14) and P = .29; median PFS has not been reached for either arm. PFS trends favoring R2-CHOP over placebo/R-CHOP were seen in patients with higher-risk disease., Conclusion: ROBUST is the first DLBCL phase III study to integrate biomarker-driven identification of eligible ABC patients. Although the ROBUST trial did not meet the primary end point of PFS in all patients, the safety profile of R2-CHOP was consistent with individual treatments with no new safety signals., Competing Interests: Grzegorz S. NowakowskiConsulting or Advisory Role: Celgene, MorphoSys, Genentech, Selvita, Debiopharm Group, Kite/GileadResearch Funding: Celgene, NanoString Technologies, MorphoSys Annalisa ChiappellaHonoraria: Celgene, Gilead-Kite, Janssen Oncology, Roche, ServierConsulting or Advisory Role: Celgene, Gilead-Kite, Janssen-Cilag, Takeda, iQone David W. ScottConsulting or Advisory Role: Celgene, Janssen, Abbvie, AstraZenecaResearch Funding: Janssen, Roche/Genentech, NanoString TechnologiesPatents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Named inventor on a pending patent describing gene expression profiling in prognostication in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. As a member of the LLMPP I am potentially a named inventor on a pending patent on the use of gene expression profiling to assign cell-of-origin in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. I am a named inventor on a pending patent on the use of gene expression profiling to determine the proliferation signature in mantle cell lymphoma. Named inventor on a pending patent describing using gene expression profiling to identify molecular subtypes of GCB-DLBCL. Wojciech JurczakResearch Funding: Janssen-Cilag, Acerta Pharma/AstraZeneca, Merck, Loxo, TG Therapeutics, BeiGene Muhit ÖzcanHonoraria: TakedaResearch Funding: Janssen, Celgene, Takeda, Bayer, Merck, Archigen Biotech, Roche, Pharmacyclics, AbbvieTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Takeda, Sanofi, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abdi Ibrahim, Amgen, Janssen David BeladaConsulting or Advisory Role: Roche, Gilead Sciences, Janssen-Cilag, Takeda, MorphoSys, Debiopharm GroupResearch Funding: Roche, Gilead Sciences, Janssen-Cilag, Takeda, MorphoSys, Pharmacyclics, Archigen BiotechTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Gilead Sciences, Takeda, Roche Juan Miguel BerguaConsulting or Advisory Role: Daiichi SankyoTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Roche/Genentech Dok Hyun YoonHonoraria: Celltrion, Roche, Janssen, Amgen, Celgene, Samyang, Kirin PharmaceuticalsConsulting or Advisory Role: Roche, Janssen, Amgen¸Celgene, Green CrossResearch Funding: Samyang, Abclone, Roche/Genentech, Janssen Oncology, Amgen, Genmab, Boryung Federica CavalloHonoraria: Takeda, Janssen-Cilag, Gilead SciencesConsulting or Advisory Role: Janssen-Cilag, Gilead SciencesTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Celgene Kazuhito YamamotoHonoraria: Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Takeda, Janssen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Sumitomo Dainippon, Ono Pharmacuetical, Chugai Pharma, Novartis, Otsuka, Mundipharma, Eisai, MSD, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Sanofi, Nippon Shinyaku, Abbvie, GlaxoSmithKlineConsulting or Advisory Role: Ono Pharmaceutical, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Chugai Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Takeda, Celgene, HUYA Bioscience International, Stemline Therapeutics, Eisai, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, AbbvieResearch Funding: Chugai Pharma, Novartis, ARIAD, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, Abbvie, Ono Pharmaceutical, Celgene, Solasia Pharma, MSD, Eisai, Zenyaku Kogyo, Bayer, SymBio Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Incyte, Mundipharma, Yakult Pharmaceutical Koji IzutsuHonoraria: Takeda, Chugai Pharma, Eisai, Janssen, Abbvie, Novartis, MSD, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma, Ono Pharmaceutical, Mundipharma, HUYA Bioscience International, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Fujifilm, CelgeneConsulting or Advisory Role: Bayer, Celgene, AstraZenecaResearch Funding: Eisai, Chugai Pharma Koji KatoHonoraria: Takeda, MSD, Kyowa-Kirin, Janssen, Celgene, Ono, Mundi, Dainippon-Sumitomo, Bristol-Myers SquibbConsulting or Advisory Role: AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Chugai, Eisai, Janssen, Novartis, Daiichi SankyoResearch Funding: Chugai, Takeda, Kyowa Kirin, AbbVie, Novartis, Eisai, Janssen, Celgene, Ono, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo Myron CzuczmanEmployment: CelgeneStock and Other Ownership Interests: Celgene Sarah HerseyStock and Other Ownership Interests: Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers SquibbOther Relationship: Bristol-Myers Squibb Adrian KilcoyneEmployment: CelgeneStock and Other Ownership Interests: Celgene Jacqueline RussoEmployment: Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kite PharmaStock and Other Ownership Interests: Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kite Pharma Krista HudakEmployment: Bristol-Myers Squibb, NovartisStock and Other Ownership Interests: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis Jingshan ZhangEmployment: Celgene, Bristol-Myers SquibbStock and Other Ownership Interests: Bristol-Myers SquibbTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Celgene Steve WadeEmployment: Bristol-Myers SquibbStock and Other Ownership Interests: Bristol-Myers Squibb Thomas E. WitzigConsulting or Advisory Role: Karyopharm Therapeutics, Abbvie/Genentech, Seattle Genetics, Celgene, Incyte, Epizyme, Cellectar, Tessa Therapeutics, Portola Pharmaceuticals, MorphoSys, ADC TherapeuticsResearch Funding: Celgene, Acerta Pharma, Kura Oncology, Acrotech Biopharma, Karyopharm TherapeuticsPatents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: I am co-inventor on a patent application filed by Mayo Clinic and pending on the combination of CRM1 inhibitors with salicylates. Please note—simply filed—not even close to being granted. Umberto VitoloConsulting or Advisory Role: Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Celgene, RegeneronSpeakers' Bureau: Gilead Sciences, Celgene, Abbvie, Roche, Janssen OncologyTravel, Accommodations, Expenses: Celgene, Gilead Sciences, RocheNo other potential conflicts of interest were reported.

Introduction: The prognostic value of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) expression in de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with immunochemotherapy is of interest to define a target patient population for clinical development of BCL2 inhibitors. We aimed to develop a reproducible immunohistochemistry algorithm and assay to determine BCL2 protein expression and assess the prognostic value of BCL2 in newly diagnosed DLBCL cohorts., Patients and Methods: The prospectively defined algorithm incorporated BCL2 staining intensity and percentage of BCL2-positive cells. Functionally relevant cutoffs were based on the sensitivity of lymphoma cell lines to venetoclax. This assay was highly reproducible across laboratories. The prognostic impact of BCL2 expression was assessed in DLBCL patients from the phase 3 MAIN (n = 230) and GOYA (n = 366) trials, and a population-based registry (n = 310)., Results: Approximately 50% of tumors were BCL2 positive, with a higher frequency in high International Prognostic Index (IPI) and activated B-cell-like DLBCL subgroups. BCL2 expression was associated with poorer progression-free survival in the MAIN study (hazard ratio [HR], 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-3.40; multivariate Cox regression adjusted for IPI and cell of origin). This trend was confirmed in the GOYA and registry cohorts in adjusted multivariate analyses (GOYA: HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.05-2.82; registry: HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.29-2.78). Patients with BCL2 immunohistochemistry-positive and IPI-high disease had the poorest prognosis: 3-year progression-free survival rates were 51% (GOYA) and 37% (registry)., Conclusion: Findings support use of our BCL2 immunohistochemistry scoring system and assay to select patients with BCL2-positive tumors for future studies., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: We sought to improve upon frontline bendamustine/rituximab (BR) induction therapy followed by rituximab maintenance in untreated high-risk follicular lymphoma (FL)., Patients and Methods: Patients were randomized to BR induction followed by 2-year rituximab maintenance (BR-R), BR with bortezomib and rituximab maintenance (BVR-R), or BR followed by lenalidomide (1 year) with rituximab maintenance (BR-LR). Dual primary objectives were complete remission (CR) rate and 1-year disease-free survival (DFS); 289 patients enrolled (NCT01216683)., Results: For induction, 92%, 87%, and 86% of patients randomized to BR-R, BVR-R, or BR-LR received six cycles, respectively. CR rate with BR versus BVR induction was 62% versus 75%, respectively ( P = 0.04). One-year DFS rates with BR-R versus BR-LR were 85% versus 67%, respectively ( P = 0.0009). This was due to an imbalance in CR rates post-BR induction and discontinuation due to adverse events (AEs). The most common grade 3-4 AEs for BVR versus BR were neutropenia and sensory neuropathy (12% vs <1%); 83% of the latter occurred with intravenous bortezomib. The most common grade 3-4 AEs related to LR versus rituximab maintenance were neutropenia 66% versus 21%, respectively ( P < 0.0001), and febrile neutropenia 10% versus 2%, respectively ( P = 0.05). The overall treatment-related mortality was 1.4%. With 5-year median follow-up, 3-year PFS rates for BR-R, BVR-R, and BR-LR were 77%, 82%, and 76%, respectively ( P = 0.36) with OS rates of 87%, 90%, and 84%, respectively ( P = 0.79). For prognostication, CR rate and POD-24 were associated with survival., Conclusions: Altogether, neither bortezomib added to BR induction nor lenalidomide added to rituximab maintenance immediately post-BR induction is recommended in untreated FL., (©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Purpose: MYC rearrangement ( MYC -R) occurs in approximately 10% of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) and has been associated with poor prognosis in many studies. The impact of MYC- R on prognosis may be influenced by the MYC partner gene (immunoglobulin [IG] or a non-IG gene). We evaluated a large cohort of patients through the Lunenburg Lymphoma Biomarker Consortium to validate the prognostic significance of MYC-R (single-, double-, and triple-hit status) in DLBCL within the context of the MYC partner gene., Methods: The study cohort included patients with histologically confirmed DLBCL morphology derived from large prospective trials and patient registries in Europe and North America who were uniformly treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone therapy or the like. Fluorescence in situ hybridization for the MYC , BCL2 , BCL6 , and IG heavy and light chain loci was used, and results were correlated with clinical outcomes., Results: A total of 5,117 patients were identified of whom 2,383 (47%) had biopsy material available to assess for MYC -R. MYC -R was present in 264 (11%) of 2,383 patients and was associated with a significantly shorter progression-free and overall survival, with a strong time-dependent effect within the first 24 months after diagnosis. The adverse prognostic impact of MYC- R was only evident in patients with a concurrent rearrangement of BCL2 and/or BCL6 and an IG partner (hazard ratio, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6 to 3.6; P < .001)., Conclusion: The negative prognostic impact of MYC -R in DLBCL is largely observed in patients with MYC double hit/triple-hit disease in which MYC is translocated to an IG partner, and this effect is restricted to the first 2 years after diagnosis. Our results suggest that diagnostic strategies should be adopted to identify this high-risk cohort, and risk-adjusted therapeutic approaches should be refined further.

Background: There is no clear consensus between pediatric and adult providers about the treatment of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)., Methods: Failure-free survival (FFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between 114 patients ages 17 to 21 years with HL who were treated on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group-American College of Radiology Imaging Network Intergroup adult E2496 study and 391 similarly patients ages 17 to 21 years with HL who were treated on the pediatric Children's Oncology Group (COG) AHOD0031 study., Results: Comparing AYAs from the COG and E2496 studies, there were no significant differences in extralymphatic disease, anemia, or hypoalbuminemia. More AYAs in the E2496 trial had stage III and IV disease (63% vs 29%; P < .001) and B symptoms (63% vs 27%; P < .001), and fewer had bulk disease (33% vs 77%; P < .001). More AYAs on the COG trial received radiotherapy (76% vs 66%; P = .03), although in smaller doses. E2496 AYA The 5-year FFS and OS rates were 68% and 89%, respectively in the E2496 AYAs and 81% and 97%, respectively, in the COG AYAs, indicating a statistically superior compared in the COG AYAs (P = .001). In stratified multivariable analyses, E2496 AYAs had worse FFS than COG AYAs in all strata except patients who had stage I and II HL without anemia. Propensity score analysis (based on stage, anemia, and bulk disease) confirmed inferior FFS for E2496 AYAs compared with COG AYAs (P = .004). On the E2496 study, FFS was significantly divergent across age groups (P = .005), with inferior outcomes for those ages 17 to 21 years versus 22-44 years. There was no difference across age on the COG study., Conclusions: Younger AYA patients with HL appear to have better outcomes when treated on a pediatric trial than patients of similar age on an adult trial. Prospective studies examining these differences are warranted. Cancer 2018;124:136-44. © 2017 American Cancer Society., (© 2017 American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: Randomized, multicenter, open-label, phase 2/3 trial investigating lenalidomide versus investigator's choice (IC) in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Experimental Design: Patients with DLBCL who received ≥2 prior therapies were stratified by DLBCL subtype [germinal center B-cell (GCB) vs. non-GCB; determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC)] and then randomized 1:1 to lenalidomide (25 mg/day, 21 days of 28-day cycle) or IC (gemcitabine, rituximab, etoposide, or oxaliplatin). Crossover to lenalidomide was permitted for IC-treated patients with radiologically confirmed progressive disease. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, and subtype analysis [GCB vs. activated B-cell (ABC)] using gene expression profiling (GEP) were exploratory endpoints. Results: Stage 1: 102 DLBCL patients (by IHC: non-GCB, n = 54; GCB, n = 48) received ≥1 dose of lenalidomide or IC. Hematologic treatment-emergent adverse events with lenalidomide versus IC included neutropenia (42.6%; 36.4%), anemia (33.3%; 47.3%), thrombocytopenia (24.1%; 43.6%), and leukopenia (5.6%; 12.7%), respectively. Overall, lenalidomide-treated patients had an ORR of 27.5% versus 11.8% in IC (ORRs were similar regardless of IHC-defined DLBCL subtype). Median PFS was increased in patients receiving lenalidomide (13.6 weeks) versus IC (7.9 weeks; P = 0.041), with greater improvements in non-GCB patients (15.1 vs. 7.1 weeks, respectively; P = 0.021) compared with GCB (10.1 vs. 9.0 weeks, respectively; P = 0.550). Conclusions: The clinical benefit of lenalidomide monotherapy in DLBCL patients was more evident in the non-GCB subtype. Exploratory analyses suggest that this preferential benefit was more pronounced in the GEP-defined ABC population, demonstrating a need for additional studies of lenalidomide in DLBCL using GEP subtyping. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4127-37. ©2017 AACR ., (©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Transformation to aggressive lymphoma is a critical event in the clinical course of follicular lymphoma (FL) patients. Yet, it is a challenge to reliably predict transformation at the time of diagnosis. Understanding the risk of transformation would be useful for guiding and monitoring patients, as well as for evaluating novel treatment strategies that could potentially prevent transformation. Herein, we review the contribution of clinical, pathological, and genetic risk factors to transformation. Patients with multiple clinical high-risk factors are at elevated risk of transformation but we are currently lacking a prognostic index that would specifically address transformation rather than disease progression or overall survival. From the biological standpoint, multiple studies have correlated individual biomarkers with transformation. However, accurate prediction of this event is currently hampered by our limited knowledge of the evolutionary pathways leading to transformation, as well as the scarcity of comprehensive, large-scale studies that assess both the genomic landscape of alterations within tumor cells and the composition of the microenvironment. Liquid biopsies hold great promise for achieving precision medicine. Indeed, mutations detected within circulating tumor DNA may be a better reflection of the inherent intratumoral heterogeneity than the biopsy of a single site. Last, we will assess whether evidence exists in the literature that transformation might be prevented altogether, based on the choice of therapy for FL., (© 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.)

The optimal choice of salvage therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) remains unknown. Based on promising results of phase II trials, the preferred salvage regimen in British Columbia since 2002 has been the out-patient regimen, gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP). We conducted a retrospective analysis including all patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL or HL who received GDP as salvage therapy between September 2002 and June 2010. We identified 235 patients: 152 DLBCL, 83 HL. Overall response rates were 49% and 71% for patients with DLBCL and HL, respectively. Within the transplant-eligible population, 52% of patients with DLBCL and 96% of patients with HL proceeded to stem cell transplantation. The 2-year progression-free survival and overall survival were 21% and 28% in the DLBCL cohort, and 58% and 85% in the HL group. GDP is an effective and well-tolerated out-patient salvage regimen for relapsed/refractory DLBCL and HL.

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (PCALCL) is a rare CD30 + lymphoproliferative disorder with excellent outcomes reported despite frequent cutaneous relapses. Limited information exists on the development of systemic lymphoma. The British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) Lymphoid Cancer Database was searched to identify all adults diagnosed with PCALCL from 1993 to 2013. From 2005, the BCCA endorsed radiotherapy (RT) alone for limited stage with data failing to support chemotherapy. Forty-seven patients were identified with a male predominance (n = 31, 66%), median age of 64 years and predominantly limited stage (n = 40, 85%). Median follow-up was 8·4 years. The 5-year time to progression (TTP) was 58% (64% limited versus 29% advanced stage). The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival was 86% and 75%, respectively. In an as-treated analysis, the 5-year DSS for limited stage patients was similar comparing RT to combined modality treatment or chemotherapy alone but the 5-year TTP favoured RT (82% vs. 33%, P = 0·004). The 5-year cumulative risk of developing systemic lymphoma was 14%. Our results confirm the favourable prognosis of PCALCL despite a high relapse rate. Limited stage patients treated with RT alone have excellent outcomes. There is a small risk of systemic lymphoma in PCALCL., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Early-interim fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET scan after two ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy courses (PET-2) represents the most effective predictor of treatment outcome in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. We aimed to assess the predictive value of PET-2 combined with tissue biomarkers in neoplastic and microenvironmental cells for this disease., Methods: We enrolled 208 patients with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma and treated with ABVD (training set), from Jan 1, 2002, to Dec 31, 2009, and validated the results in a fully matched independent cohort of 102 patients with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (validation set), enrolled from Jan 1, 2008, to Dec 31, 2012. The inclusion criteria for both the training and validation sets were: the availability of a representative formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sample collected at diagnosis; treatment with ABVD with or without radiotherapy; baseline staging and interim restaging after two ABVD courses with FDG-PET; no treatment change based solely on interim PET result; and HIV-negative status. We used Cox multivariate analysis classification and regression tree (CART) to compare the predictive values of these markers with that of PET-2 and to assess the biomarkers' ability to correctly classify patients whose outcome was incorrectly predicted by PET-2., Findings: In multivariate analysis, PET-2 was the only factor able to predict both progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 33·3 [95% CI 13·6-83·3]; p<0·0001) and overall survival (HR 31·3 [95% CI 3·7-58·9]; p=0·002). In the training set, no factor had a stronger adverse predictive value than a positive PET-2 scan and none was able to correctly reclassify PET-2 positive patients. In PET-2 negative patients, expression of CD68 (≥25%) and PD1 (diffuse or rosetting pattern) in microenvironmental cells, and STAT1 negativity in Hodgkin Reed Sternberg cells identified a subset of PET-2 negative patients with a 3 year progression-free survival significantly lower than that of the remaining PET-2 negative population (21 [64%] of 33 [95% CI 45·2-79·0] vs 130 [95%] of 137 [95% CI 89·4-97·7]; p<0·0001). These findings were reproduced in the validation set., Interpretation: The CART algorithm correctly predicted the response to treatment in more than a half of patients who had a relapse or disease progression despite a negative PET-2 scan, thus increasing the negative predictive value of PET-2. In keeping with preliminary results from interim PET response adapted clinical trials of patients with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma, there might be a non-negligible proportion of treatment failures in the interim PET negative group treated with standard ABVD., Funding: Italian Association for Cancer Research, Bologna Association against leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and Bologna University., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In an ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group study (E1496), maintenance rituximab (MR) was reported to prolong progression-free survival (PFS) in comparison with observation (OBS) alone in patients with indolent lymphoma after induction chemotherapy. Here the long-term follow-up of the same patient cohort is presented., Methods: Patients with indolent lymphoma received induction chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (CVP). Patients with stable disease or a better response were then randomized to weekly rituximab (375 mg/m(2) × 4 doses) every 6 months for 2 years (MR) or to OBS. The primary endpoint was PFS; the secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), response rate, and toxicities., Results: Of the 387 patients who initially received CVP induction, 158 were randomized to MR, and 153 were randomized to OBS. After a median follow-up of 11.5 years, patients on MR had longer median PFS (4.8 years) than patients on OBS (1.3 years; hazard ratio [HR], 0.49; P < .0001). However, there was no difference in OS between MR and OBS (10-year OS, 67% vs 59%; median OS, 13.5 years vs not reached; HR, 0.91; P = .69). Other than MR, only minimal residual disease after induction therapy was significantly associated with PFS on multivariate analysis (HR, 0.71; P = .02). A low initial tumor burden, minimal residual disease, follicular histology, a low Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index score, and female sex were associated with longer OS. There was no increase in the rate of second primary malignancies with MR vs OBS., Conclusions: With long-term follow-up, MR did not influence OS. The PFS benefit was maintained. MR should be considered optional for patients with indolent B-cell lymphoma. Cancer 2016;122:2996-3004. © 2016 American Cancer Society., Competing Interests: disclosures: S.H. is an employee of Genentech; the authors report no other relevant conflicts of interests, (© 2016 American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: To develop and validate a risk score for relapse in the CNS in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)., Patients and Methods: A total of 2,164 patients (18 to 80 years old) with aggressive B-cell lymphomas (80% DLBCL) treated with rituximab and CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone)-like chemotherapy, who were enrolled in studies from the German High-Grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group and the MabThera International Trial, were analyzed for occurrence of relapse/progression in the CNS. The resulting risk model was validated in an independent data set of 1,597 patients with DLBCL identified in the British Columbia Cancer Agency Lymphoid Cancer database., Results: The risk model consists of the International Prognostic Index (IPI) factors in addition to involvement of kidneys and/or adrenal glands (CNS-IPI). In a three-risk group model, the low-risk group (46% of all patients analyzed), the intermediate-risk group (41%), and the high-risk group (12%) showed 2-year rates of CNS disease of 0.6% (CI, 0% to 1.2%), 3.4% (CI, 2.2% to 4.4%), and 10.2% (CI, 6.3% to 14.1%), respectively. Patients from the validation British Columbia Cancer Agency data set showed similar rates of CNS disease for low-risk (0.8%; CI, 0.0% to 1.6%), intermediate-risk (3.9%; CI, 2.3% to 5.5%), and high-risk (12.0%; CI, 7.9% to 16.1%) groups., Conclusion: The CNS-IPI is a robust, highly reproducible tool that can be used to estimate the risk of CNS relapse/progression in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) chemotherapy. Close to 90% of patients with DLBCL belong to the low- and intermediate-risk groups and have a CNS relapse risk < 5%; they may be spared any diagnostic and therapeutic intervention. In contrast, those in the high-risk group have a > 10% risk of CNS relapse and should be considered for CNS-directed investigations and prophylactic interventions., (© 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Activated B-cell-like (ABC) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the major constituent of nongerminal center B-cell-like (non-GCB) DLBCL, is associated with poorer survival outcomes than GCB-type DLBCL. In Phase II studies, lenalidomide combined with R-CHOP (R(2)-CHOP) improved outcomes relative to historical R-CHOP in newly diagnosed DLBCL, particularly in non-GCB cases. ROBUST (CC-5013-DLC-002) is a randomized, double-blind, global, Phase III study of oral lenalidomide (15 mg, days 1-14) plus R-CHOP21 × 6 versus placebo-R-CHOP21 × 6 in patients with previously untreated ABC-type DLBCL. Subtyping is done within 3 calendar days by central laboratory gene-expression profiling of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy tissue. The primary end point is progression-free survival. Secondary end points include response rates, overall survival and health-related quality of life.

Purpose: Four US National Clinical Trials Network components (Southwest Oncology Group, Cancer and Leukemia Group B/Alliance, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, and the AIDS Malignancy Consortium) conducted a phase II Intergroup clinical trial that used early interim fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging to determine the utility of response-adapted therapy for stage III to IV classic Hodgkin lymphoma., Patients and Methods: The Southwest Oncology Group S0816 (Fludeoxyglucose F 18-PET/CT Imaging and Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Additional Chemotherapy and G-CSF in Treating Patients With Stage III or Stage IV Hodgkin Lymphoma) trial enrolled 358 HIV-negative patients between July 1, 2009, and December 2, 2012. A PET scan was performed after two initial cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) and was labeled PET2. PET2-negative patients (Deauville score 1 to 3) received an additional four cycles of ABVD, whereas PET2-positive patients (Deauville score 4 to 5) were switched to escalated bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (eBEACOPP) for six cycles. Among 336 eligible and evaluable patients, the median age was 32 years (range, 18 to 60 years), with 52% stage III, 48% stage IV, 49% International Prognostic Score 0 to 2, and 51% score 3 to 7., Results: Three hundred thirty-six of the enrolled patients were evaluable. Central review of the interim PET2 scan was performed in 331 evaluable patients, with 271 (82%) PET2-negative and 60 (18%) PET2-positive. Of 60 eligible PET2-positive patients, 49 switched to eBEACOPP as planned and 11 declined. With a median follow-up of 39.7 months, the Kaplan-Meier estimate for 2-year overall survival was 98% (95% CI, 95% to 99%), and the 2-year estimate for progression-free survival (PFS) was 79% (95% CI, 74% to 83%). The 2-year estimate for PFS in the subset of patients who were PET2-positive after two cycles of ABVD was 64% (95% CI, 50% to 75%). Both nonhematologic and hematologic toxicities were greater in the eBEACOPP arm than in the continued ABVD arm., Conclusion: Response-adapted therapy based on interim PET imaging after two cycles of ABVD seems promising with a 2-year PFS of 64% for PET2-positive patients, which is much higher than the expected 2-year PFS of 15% to 30%., (© 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Primary refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) following R-CHOP chemotherapy is a major concern. We identified 1126 patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP from 2000 to 2009, of whom 166 (15 %) had primary refractory disease. Of the 75/166 (45 %) who were age <70 years and had been planned for stage-directed curative therapy, 43 (57 %) were primary nonresponders and 32 (43 %) relapsed within 3 months of completing R-CHOP. Thirty of 75 (40 %) patients had serious comorbidity and organ dysfunction precluding intensive treatment and had palliative treatment only. Twelve of 45 (27 %) patients responded to second-line treatment and underwent ASCT. The median overall survival for the 75 patients was 10 months with only seven patients alive without evidence of disease at follow-up ranging from 14 to 106 months. Primary refractory DLBCL after R-CHOP has a very poor outcome with only anecdotal survivors independent of the intended treatment approach.

Gray zone lymphoma (GZL) with features between classical Hodgkin lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a recently recognized entity reported to present primarily with mediastinal disease (MGZL). We examined detailed clinical features, outcomes, and prognostic factors among 112 GZL patients recently treated across 19 North American centers. Forty-three percent of patients presented with MGZL, whereas 57% had non-MGZL (NMGZL). NMGZL patients were older (50 versus 37 years, P = 0.0001); more often had bone marrow involvement (19% versus 0%, P = 0.001); >1 extranodal site (27% versus 8%, P = 0.014); and advanced stage disease (81% versus 13%, P = 0.0001); but they had less bulk (8% versus 44%, P = 0.0001), compared with MGZL patients. Common frontline treatments were cyclophosphamide-doxorubicin-vincristine-prednisone +/- rituximab (CHOP+/-R) 46%, doxorubicin-bleomycin-vinblastine-dacarbazine +/- rituximab (ABVD+/-R) 30%, and dose-adjusted etoposide-doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide-vincristine-prednisone-rituximab (DA-EPOCH-R) 10%. Overall and complete response rates for all patients were 71% and 59%, respectively; 33% had primary refractory disease. At 31-month median follow-up, 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rates were 40% and 88%, respectively. Interestingly, outcomes in MGZL patients seemed similar compared with that of NMGZL patients. On multivariable analyses, performance status and stage were highly prognostic for survival for all patients. Additionally, patients treated with ABVD+/-R had markedly inferior 2-year PFS (22% versus 52%, P = 0.03) compared with DLBCL-directed therapy (CHOP+/-R and DA-EPOCH-R), which persisted on Cox regression (hazard ratio, 1.88; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.83; P = 0.04). Furthermore, rituximab was associated with improved PFS on multivariable analyses (hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-0.69; P = 0.002). Collectively, GZL is a heterogeneous and likely more common entity and often with nonmediastinal presentation, whereas outcomes seem superior when treated with a rituximab-based, DLBCL-specific regimen., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Patients with early stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) receive RCHOP (rituximab cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) alone or with involved field radiotherapy (IFRT). Anti-CD20 radioimmunotherapy (RIT) delivers radiation to microscopic sites outside of known disease. This phase II study aimed to achieve a functional complete response (CR) rate of ≥75% to RCHOP and (90) Yttrium-ibritumomab tiuxetan RIT. Patients with stages I/II DLBCL received 4-6 cycles of RCHOP followed by RIT [14·8 MBq/kg (0·4 mCi/kg)]; patients with positron emission tomographypositive sites of disease after RCHOP/RIT received 30 Gy IFRT. Of the 62 patients enrolled; 53 were eligible. 42% (22/53) had stage I/IE; 58% (31/53) stage II/IIE. After RCHOP, 79% (42/53) were in CR/unconfirmed CR. Forty-eight patients proceeded to RIT. One partial responder after RIT received IFRT and achieved a CR. The best response after RCHOP + RIT in all 53 patients was a functional CR rate of 89% (47/53; 95% confidence interval: 77-96%). With a median follow-up of 5·9 years, 7 (13%) patients have progressed and 4 (8%) have died (2 with DLBCL). At 5 years, 78% of patients remain in remission and 94% are alive. Chemoimmunotherapy and RIT is an active regimen for early stage DLBCL patients. Eighty-nine percent of patients achieved functional CR without the requirement of IFRT. This regimen is worthy of further study for early stage DLBCL in a phase III trial., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: The phase III North American Intergroup E2496 Trial (Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Hodgkin's Lymphoma) compared doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) with mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, vincristine, bleomycin, vinblastine, etoposide, and prednisone (Stanford V). We report results of a planned subgroup analysis in patients with stage I or II bulky mediastinal Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)., Patients and Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to six to eight cycles of ABVD every 28 days or Stanford V once per week for 12 weeks. Two to 3 weeks after completion of chemotherapy, all patients received 36 Gy of modified involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) to the mediastinum, hila, and supraclavicular regions. Patients on the Stanford V arm received IFRT to additional sites ≥ 5 cm at diagnosis. Primary end points were failure-free survival (FFS) and overall survival (OS)., Results: Of 794 eligible patients, 264 had stage I or II bulky disease, 135 received ABVD, and 129 received Stanford V. Patient characteristics were matched. The overall response rate was 83% with ABVD and 88% with Stanford V. At a median follow-up of 6.5 years, the study excluded a difference of more than 21% in 5-year FFS and more than 16% in 5-year OS between ABVD and Stanford V (5-year FFS: 85% v 79%; HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.37 to 1.25; P = .22; 5-year OS: 96% v 92%; HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.16 to 1.47; P = .19). In-field relapses occurred in < 10% of the patients in each arm., Conclusion: For patients with stage I or II bulky mediastinal HL, no substantial statistically significant differences were detected between the two regimens, although power was limited. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first prospective trial reporting outcomes specific to this subgroup, and it sets a benchmark for comparison of ongoing and future studies., (© 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Background: Double-hit lymphoma is characterized by the presence of concurrent MYC (myelocytomatosis oncogene) and BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) gene rearrangements. Prognosis is poor with standard chemoimmunotherapy. Since 2003, the British Columbia Cancer Agency has used CODOX-M/IVAC+R (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, cytarabine, ifosfamide, and etoposide, combined with rituximab) followed by consolidative hematopoietic cell transplantation as definitive treatment for double-hit lymphoma., Patients and Methods: A retrospective review of the survival outcomes of patients with double-hit lymphoma treated at our institution was conducted. Thirty-two patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma with concurrent MYC and BCL2 translocations from 2003 to 2013 were identified. Cases with MYC or BCL2 amplification and those with overexpression in immunohistochemistry analysis were excluded., Results: Median age at diagnosis was 53.0 years (range, 35.5-70.9 years), 23 (72%) were male, and 30 (94%) had stage III to IV disease. CODOX-M/IVAC+R was administered in 25 (78%) patients and 20 (80%) achieved a partial remission or better, of which 9 (36%) had a complete remission. Nineteen of the 32 (59%) patients underwent upfront hematopoietic cell transplantation. At a median follow-up of living patients of 26.4 months, 14 (44%) were alive in remission, 15 (47%) died, and 3 (9%) were alive in relapse. The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of all patients were 41% and 53%, respectively. The sixteen patients treated with CODOX-M/IVAC+R followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation had a 2-year PFS of 60% and 2-year OS of 82%., Conclusion: Patients with double-hit lymphoma treated with CODOX-M/IVAC+R followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation can achieve durable remissions, although disease progression before transplantation remains a significant problem., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) accounts for less than 2% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas. We identified 107 cases diagnosed with SMZL between 1985 and 2012 from the British Columbia Cancer Agency Centre for Lymphoid Cancer and Lymphoma Pathology Databases. Patient characteristics were: median age 67 years (range 30-88), male 40%, stage IV 98%, splenomegaly 93%, bone marrow involvement 96%, peripheral blood involvement 87%. As initial treatment, 52 underwent splenectomy (10 with chemotherapy), 38 chemotherapy alone (21 chemoimmunotherapy containing rituximab, 1 rituximab alone), two antivirals for hepatitis C, and 15 were only observed. The 10-year overall survival for first-line splenectomy versus chemotherapy was 61% and 42%, respectively [Hazard Ratio (HR) 0·48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·26-0·88, P = 0·017]. The 10-year failure-free survival (FFS) after first-line splenectomy vs chemotherapy was 39% and 14%, respectively (HR 0·48, 95% CI 0·28-0·80, P = 0·004). Among the 38 patients who received first-line chemotherapy, FFS was similar between those receiving rituximab (n = 22) and those who did not (n = 16) (HR 0·64, 95% CI 0·31-1·34, P = 0·238). Fifteen patients transformed to aggressive lymphoma with median time to transformation of 3·5 years (range 6 months to 12 years) and the 10-year transformation rate was 18%. In conclusion, splenectomy remains a reasonable treatment for patients with SMZL., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Lenalidomide has significant single-agent activity in relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We demonstrated that lenalidomide can be safely combined with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone); this new combination is known as R2CHOP. The goal of this phase II study was to evaluate the efficacy of this combination in newly diagnosed DLBCL., Patients and Methods: Eligible patients were adults with newly diagnosed untreated stages II to IV CD20(+) DLBCL. Patients received lenalidomide 25 mg orally per day on days 1 through 10 with standard-dose R-CHOP every 21 days for six cycles. All patients received pegfilgrastim on day 2 of each cycle and aspirin prophylaxis throughout. DLBCL molecular subtype was determined by tumor immunohistochemistry and classified as germinal center B-cell (GCB) versus non-GCB in the R2CHOP patients and 87 control patients with DLBCL from the Lymphoma Database who were treated with conventional R-CHOP., Results: In all, 64 patients with DLBCL were enrolled, and 60 were evaluable for response. The overall response rate was 98% (59 of 60) with 80% (48 of 60) achieving complete response. Event-free survival and overall survival (OS) rates at 24 months were 59% (95% CI, 48% to 74%) and 78% (95% CI, 68% to 90%), respectively. In R-CHOP patients, 24-month progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were 28% versus 64% (P < .001) and 46% versus 78% (P < .001) in non-GCB DLBCL versus GCB DLBCL, respectively. In contrast, there was no difference in 24-month PFS or OS for R2CHOP patients on the basis of non-GCB and GCB subtype (60% v 59% [P = .83] and 83% v 75% [P = .61] at 2 years, respectively)., Conclusion: R2CHOP shows promising efficacy in DLBCL. The addition of lenalidomide appears to mitigate a negative impact of non-GCB phenotype on patient outcome., (© 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous disease and "double-hit" DLBCL, with both MYC and BCL2 translocations has a poor prognosis. In this study, we investigated whether MYC and BCL2 protein expression in tissue would predict survival in DLBCL. The study included 106 cases of de novo DLBCL treated with rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP) or CHOP-like regimens. The results were validated on an independent cohort of 205 DLBCL patients. Patients with low expression of BCL2 (≤30%) and MYC (≤50%) had the best prognosis, whereas those with high BCL2 (>30%) and MYC (>50%) had the worst outcome. In multivariate analysis, the combination of the BCL2 and MYC was an independent predictor of overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) (P = 0·015 and P = 0·005, respectively). The risk of death was nine times greater for patients with high BCL2 and MYC compared to those with low expression. High BCL2 and MYC was a strong predictor of poor OS (P < 0·001) and EFS (P = 0·0017) in patients with the germinal centre B-cell (GCB) type, but not in the non-GCB type. In DLBCL, high co-expression of MYC and BCL2 was an independent predictor of poor survival, and could be used to stratify patients for risk-adapted therapies., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and natural killer (NK) cell lymphoma have poor survival with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. Because angiogenesis plays an important role in the biology of PTCL, a fully humanized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody, bevacizumab (A), was studied in combination with standard cyclosphosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) chemotherapy (ACHOP) to evaluate its potential to improve outcome in these patients. Patients were treated with 6-8 cycles of ACHOP followed by eight doses of maintenance A (15 mg/kg every 21 days). Forty-six patients were enrolled on this phase 2 study from July 2006 through March 2009. Forty-four patients were evaluable for toxicity and 39 were evaluable for response, progression and survival. A total of 324 cycles (range: 2-16, median 7) were administered to 39 evaluable patients and only nine completed all planned treatment. The overall response rate was 90% with 19 (49%) complete response/complete response unconfirmed (CR/CRu) and 16 (41%) a partial response (PR). The 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 44% at a median follow-up of 3 years. The median PFS and overall survival (OS) rates were 7.7 and 22 months, respectively. Twenty-three patients died (21 from lymphoma, two while in remission). Grade 3 or 4 toxicities included febrile neutropenia (n = 8), anemia (n = 3), thrombocytopenia (n = 5), congestive heart failure (n = 4), venous thrombosis (n = 3), gastrointestinal hemorrhage/perforation (n = 2), infection (n = 8) and fatigue (n = 6). Despite a high overall response rate, the ACHOP regimen failed to result in durable remissions and was associated with significant toxicities. Studies of novel therapeutics are needed for this patient population, whose clinical outcome remains poor.

Rituximab, bortezomib, modified hyper-cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, dexamethasone (VcR-CVAD) induction chemoimmunotherapy and maintenance rituximab (MR) were evaluated for efficacy and safety in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group protocol E1405. Patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma received VcR-CVAD chemotherapy every 21 days for 6 cycles, followed by MR for 2 years. Transplant-eligible patients had the option of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) consolidation instead of MR. The primary end point was the complete response (CR) rate to VcR-CVAD. The secondary end points were overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities. Seventy-five eligible patients with a median age of 62 (range 40-76) were enrolled. The ORR was 95% and a CR was achieved in 68% of patients. After a median follow-up of 4.5 years, 3-year PFS and OS were 72% and 88%, respectively. No substantial difference in PFS or OS was observed between patients treated with MR (n = 44) vs ASCT (n = 22). There were no unexpected toxicities. VcR-CVAD produced high ORR and CR rates in mantle cell lymphoma. MR after VcR-CVAD induction performed similarly to ASCT and may improve response duration. Randomized clinical trials comparing MR against ASCT should be considered and randomized clinical trials evaluating bortezomib's contribution to conventional therapy are under way. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00433537.

Purpose: We previously reported that constitutive STAT3 activation is a prominent feature of the activated B-cell subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (ABC-DLBCL). In this study, we investigated whether STAT3 activation can risk stratify patients with DLBCL., Patients and Methods: By an immunohistochemical method, we investigated phosphotyrosine STAT3 (PY-STAT3) expression from 185 patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone). Cell line-based siRNA experiments were also performed to generate an 11-gene, PY-STAT3 activation signature, which was used to study a previously published cohort of 222 patients with DLBCL. The STAT3 activation status determined by these two methods and by STAT3 mRNA levels were then correlated with survival., Results: PY-STAT3 was detected in 37% of DLBCL and enriched in ABC-DLBCL cases (P = .03). PY-STAT3 positivity significantly correlated with poor overall survival (OS; P = .01) and event-free survival (EFS; P = .006). Similar observations were made for high levels of STAT3 mRNA. In multivariable analysis, PY-STAT3 status (P = .02), International Prognostic Index (P = .02), and BCL2 expression (P = .046) were independent prognosticators of OS in this cohort. Among the cell-of-origin subgroups, PY-STAT3 was associated with poor EFS among non-germinal center B-cell DLBCL cases only (P = .027). Similarly, the 11-gene STAT3 activation signature correlated with poor survival in the entire DLBCL cohort (OS, P < .001; EFS, P < .001) as well as the ABC-DLBCL subgroup (OS, P = .029; EFS, P = .025)., Conclusion: STAT3 activation correlated with poor survival in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP, especially those with tumors of the ABC-DLBCL subtype.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and can be detected by in situ hybridization (ISH) of viral nucleic acid (EBER) in tumor cells. We sought to determine whether plasma EBV-DNA could serve as a surrogate for EBER-ISH and to explore its prognostic utility in HL. Specimens from the Cancer Cooperative Intergroup Trial E2496 were used to compare pretreatment plasma EBV-DNA quantification with EBV tumor status by EBER-ISH. A cutoff of >60 viral copies/100 µL plasma yielded 96% concordance with EBER-ISH. Pretreatment and month 6 plasma specimens were designated EBV(-) or EBV(+) by this cutoff. Patients with pretreatment EBV(+) plasma (n = 54) had inferior failure-free survival (FFS) compared with those with pretreatment EBV(-) plasma (n = 274), log-rank P = .009. By contrast, no difference in FFS was observed when patients were stratified by EBER-ISH. Pretreatment plasma EBV positivity was an independent predictor of treatment failure on multivariate analyses. At month 6, plasma EBV(+) patients (n = 7) had inferior FFS compared with plasma EBV(-) patients (n = 125), log-rank P = .007. These results confirm that plasma EBV-DNA is highly concordant with EBER-ISH in HL and suggest that it may have prognostic utility both at baseline and after therapy. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00003389.

There is a lack of contemporary prospective data examining the adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (ABVD) and Stanford V (SV; doxorubicin, vinblastine, mechlorethamine, vincristine, bleomycin, etoposide, prednisone) regimens in older Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. Forty-four advanced-stage, older HL patients (aged ≥60 years) were treated on the randomized study, E2496. Toxicities were mostly similar between chemotherapy regimens, although 24% of older patients developed bleomycin lung toxicity (BLT), which occurred mainly with ABVD (91%). Further, the BLT-related mortality rate was 18%. The overall treatment-related mortality for older HL patients was 9% vs. 0·3% for patients aged <60 years (P < 0·001). Among older patients, there were no survival differences between ABVD and SV. According to age, outcomes were significantly inferior for older versus younger patients (5-year failure-free survival: 48% vs. 74%, respectively, P = 0·002; 5-year overall survival: 58% and 90%, respectively, P < 0·0001), although time-to-progression (TTP) was not significantly different (5-year TTP: 68% vs. 78%, respectively, P = 0·37). Furthermore, considering progression and death without progression as competing risks, the risk of progression was not different between older and younger HL patients (5 years: 30% and 23%, respectively, P = 0·30); however, the incidence of death without progression was significantly increased for older HL patients (22% vs. 9%, respectively, P < 0·0001). Altogether, the marked HL age-dependent survival differences appeared attributable primarily to non-HL events., (© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Purpose: Our aim was to reliably identify patients with advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) at increased risk of death by developing a robust predictor of overall survival (OS) using gene expression measured in routinely available formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPET)., Methods: Expression levels of 259 genes, including those previously reported to be associated with outcome in cHL, were determined by digital expression profiling of pretreatment FFPET biopsies from 290 patients enrolled onto the E2496 Intergroup trial comparing doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) and Stanford V regimens in locally extensive and advanced-stage cHL. A model for OS separating patients into low- and high-risk groups was produced using penalized Cox regression. The model was tested in an independent cohort of 78 patients enriched for treatment failure but otherwise similar to patients in a population-based registry of patients treated with ABVD. Weighted analysis methods generated unbiased estimates of predictor performance in the population-based registry., Results: A 23-gene outcome predictor was generated. The model identified a population at increased risk of death in the validation cohort. There was a 29% absolute difference in 5-year OS between the high- and low-risk groups (63% v 92%, respectively; log-rank P < .001; hazard ratio, 6.7; 95% CI, 2.6 to 17.4). The predictor was superior to the International Prognostic Score and CD68 immunohistochemistry in multivariate analyses., Conclusion: A gene expression-based predictor, developed in and applicable to routinely available FFPET biopsies, identifies patients with advanced-stage cHL at increased risk of death when treated with standard-intensity up-front regimens.

Purpose: Although ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) has been established as the standard of care in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, newer regimens have been investigated, which have appeared superior in early phase II studies. Our aim was to determine if failure-free survival was superior in patients treated with the Stanford V regimen compared with ABVD., Patients and Methods: The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, along with the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, the Southwest Oncology Group, and the Canadian NCIC Clinical Trials Group, conducted this randomized phase III trial in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. Stratification factors included extent of disease (localized v extensive) and International Prognostic Factors Project Score (0 to 2 v 3 to 7). The primary end point was failure-free survival (FFS), defined as the time from random assignment to progression, relapse, or death, whichever occurred first. Overall survival, a secondary end point, was measured from random assignment to death as a result of any cause. This design provided 87% power to detect a 33% reduction in FFS hazard rate, or a difference in 5-year FFS of 64% versus 74% at two-sided .05 significance level., Results: There was no significant difference in the overall response rate between the two arms, with complete remission and clinical complete remission rates of 73% for ABVD and 69% for Stanford V. At a median follow-up of 6.4 years, there was no difference in FFS: 74% for ABVD and 71% for Stanford V at 5 years (P = .32)., Conclusion: ABVD remains the standard of care for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.

In classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL), 20%-30% of patients experience relapse or progressive disease after initial treatment. The pathogenesis and biology of treatment failure are still poorly understood, in part because the molecular phenotype of the rare malignant Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells is difficult to study. Here we examined microdissected HRS cells from 29 CHL patients and 5 CHL-derived cell lines by gene expression profiling. We found significant overlap of HL-specific gene expression in primary HRS cells and HL cell lines, but also differences, including surface receptor signaling pathways. Using integrative analysis tools, we identified target genes with expression levels that significantly correlated with genomic copy-number changes in primary HRS cells. Furthermore, we found a macrophage-like signature in HRS cells that significantly correlated with treatment failure. CSF1R is a representative of this signature, and its expression was significantly associated with progression-free and overall survival in an independent set of 132 patients assessed by mRNA in situ hybridization. A combined score of CSF1R in situ hybridization and CD68 immunohistochemistry was an independent predictor for progression-free survival in multivariate analysis. In summary, our data reveal novel insights into the pathobiology of treatment failure and suggest CSF1R as a drug target of at-risk CHL.

Increased tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are reported to be associated with poor prognosis in classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL). We investigated the prognostic significance of TAMs in the E2496 Intergroup trial, a multicenter phase 3 randomized controlled trial comparing ABVD and Stanford V chemotherapy in locally extensive and advanced stage CHL. Tissue microarrays were constructed from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue and included 287 patients. Patients were randomly assigned into training (n = 143) and validation (n = 144) cohorts. Immunohistochemistry for CD68 and CD163, and in situ hybridization for EBV-encoded RNA were performed. CD68 and CD163 IHC were analyzed by computer image analysis; optimum thresholds for overall survival (OS) were determined in the training cohort and tested in the independent validation cohort. Increased CD68 and CD163 expression was significantly associated with inferior failure-free survival and OS in the validation cohort. Increased CD68 and CD163 expression was associated with increased age, EBV-encoded RNA positivity, and mixed cellularity subtype of CHL. Multivariate analysis in the validation cohort showed increased CD68 or CD163 expression to be significant independent predictors of inferior failure-free survival and OS. We demonstrate the prognostic significance of TAMs in locally extensive and advanced-stage CHL in a multicenter phase 3 randomized controlled clinical trial.

Purpose: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is curable in 60% of patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). MYC translocations, with or without BCL2 translocations, have been associated with inferior survival in DLBCL. We investigated whether expression of MYC protein, with or without BCL2 protein expression, could risk-stratify patients at diagnosis., Patients and Methods: We determined the correlation between presence of MYC and BCL2 proteins by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with survival in two independent cohorts of patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP. We further determined if MYC protein expression correlated with high MYC mRNA and/or presence of MYC translocation., Results: In the training cohort (n = 167), MYC and BCL2 proteins were detected in 29% and 44% of patients, respectively. Concurrent expression (MYC positive/BCL2 positive) was present in 21% of patients. MYC protein correlated with presence of high MYC mRNA and MYC translocation (both P < .001), but the latter was less frequent (both 11%). MYC protein expression was only associated with inferior overall and progression-free survival when BCL2 protein was coexpressed (P < .001). Importantly, the poor prognostic effect of MYC positive/BCL2 positive was validated in an independent cohort of 140 patients with DLBCL and remained significant (P < .05) after adjusting for presence of high-risk features in a multivariable model that included elevated international prognostic index score, activated B-cell molecular subtype, and presence of concurrent MYC and BCL2 translocations., Conclusion: Assessment of MYC and BCL2 expression by IHC represents a robust, rapid, and inexpensive approach to risk-stratify patients with DLBCL at diagnosis.

Biologic factors that predict the survival of patients with a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, such as cell of origin and stromal signatures, have been discovered by gene expression profiling. We attempted to simulate these gene expression profiling findings and create a new biologic prognostic model based on immunohistochemistry. We studied 199 patients (125 in the training set, 74 in the validation set) with de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab and CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) or CHOP-like therapies, and immunohistochemical stains were performed on paraffin-embedded tissue microarrays. In the model, 1 point was awarded for each adverse prognostic factor: nongerminal center B cell-like subtype, SPARC (secreted protein, acidic, and rich in cysteine) < 5%, and microvascular density quartile 4. The model using these 3 biologic markers was highly predictive of overall survival and event-free survival in multivariate analysis after adjusting for the International Prognostic Index in both the training and validation sets. This new model delineates 2 groups of patients, 1 with a low biologic score (0-1) and good survival and the other with a high score (2-3) and poor survival. This new biologic prognostic model could be used with the International Prognostic Index to stratify patients for novel or risk-adapted therapies.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that consolidation therapy with yttrium-90 ((90)Y) -ibritumomab tiuxetan after brief initial therapy with four cycles of rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in patients with previously untreated mantle-cell lymphoma would be a well-tolerated regimen that would improve outcomes compared with historical R-CHOP data., Patients and Methods: Patients ≥ 18 years old with histologically confirmed mantle-cell lymphoma expressing CD20 and cyclin D1 who had not received any previous therapy and had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 2 and adequate organ function were eligible. The study enrolled and treated 57 patients, of whom 56 patients were eligible. Fifty-two patients (50 eligible patients) received (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan. The study design required 52 eligible patients to detect a 50% improvement in the median time to treatment failure (TTF) compared with that reported for six cycles of R-CHOP., Results: With 56 analyzed patients (median age, 60 years; men, 73%), the overall response rate was 82% (55% complete response/complete response-unconfirmed). With a median follow-up of 72 months, the median TTF was 34.2 months. The median overall survival (OS) has not been reached, with an estimated 5-year OS of 73% (79% for patients ≤ age 65 years v 62% for patients > age 65 years; P = .08 [log-rank test]). There were no unexpected toxicities., Conclusion: R-CHOP given for four cycles followed by (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan compared favorably with historical results with six cycles of R-CHOP in patients with previously untreated mantle-cell lymphoma. This regimen was well tolerated and should be applicable to most patients with this disease.

Purpose: We have previously shown the prognostic significance of BCL2 expression in the activated B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL) patients treated with cyclophosphamide-Adriamycin-vincristine-prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP-like therapy. However, after the inclusion of rituximab (R) in the CHOP regimen, several conflicting observations about the prognostic value of BCL2 expression have been reported., Experimental Design: We evaluated the R-CHOP cohort of 221 DLBCL cases with gene expression profiling data. BCL2 protein (n = 169), mRNA (n = 221) expression, and t(14;18) (n = 144) were correlated with clinical outcome. The CHOP cohort (n = 181) was used for comparative analysis., Results: BCL2 protein expression has significant impact on overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) in DLBCL (OS, P = 0.009; EFS, P = 0.001) and GCB-DLBCL (OS, P = 0.03; EFS, P = 0.002) but not in ABC-DLBCL in the R-CHOP cohort. The survival differences for EFS in GCB-DLBCL were still observed in multivariate analysis. At the mRNA level, this correlation was observed in EFS in DLBCL (P = 0.006), but only a trend was observed in GCB-DLBCL (P = 0.09). The t(14;18) was detected in 34% of GCB-DLBCL but was not associated with significant differences in survival. Gene enrichment analysis identified significant enrichment of the DLBCL "stromal-1" signatures and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1-α) signature in BCL2(-)GCB-DLBCL, whereas T(FH) cell signatures were enriched in BCL2(+)GCB-DLBCL., Conclusion: The prognostic significance of BCL2 has changed after inclusion of rituximab in the treatment protocol and is observed in the GCB-DLBCL rather than the ABC-DLBCL. Although rituximab has benefited patients in both DLBCL subgroups, the BCL2(+)GCB-DLBCL seems to receive less benefit from this treatment and may require other novel therapeutic intervention., (©2011 AACR.)

The appropriate therapy for limited-stage nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is unclear. In contrast to classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL), chemotherapy is often omitted; however, it is unknown whether this impacts the risk of relapse. Herein, we compared the outcome of patients with limited-stage NLPHL treated in an era in which ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy was routinely incorporated into the primary therapy to an earlier era in which radiotherapy (RT) was used as a single modality. Using the British Columbia Cancer Agency Lymphoid Cancer Database, 88 patients with limited-stage NLPHL (stage 1A/1B or 2A, nonbulky disease < 10 cm) were identified. Treatment followed era-specific guidelines: before 1993, (n = 32) RT alone; and 1993 to present (n = 56), ABVD-like chemotherapy for 2 cycles followed by RT with the exception of 14 patients who received ABVD chemotherapy alone. Most patients were male (75%) with stage I disease (61%). In an era-to-era comparison, the 10-year time to progression (98% vs 76% P = .0074), progression-free survival (91% vs 65% P = .0024), and OS (93% vs 84%, P = .074) favored the ABVD treatment era compared with the RT alone era. Treating limited-stage NLPHL similarly to CHL may improve outcome compared with the use of radiation alone.

Purpose: Bortezomib has demonstrated promising activity in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). This is the first study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of bortezomib added to rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CVP) in previously untreated advanced-stage FL., Patients and Methods: This is a phase II multicenter trial adding bortezomib (1.3 mg/m(2) days 1 and 8) to standard-dose R-CVP (BR-CVP) for up to eight cycles in patients with newly diagnosed stage III/IV FL requiring therapy. Two co-primary end points, complete response rate (complete response [CR]/CR unconfirmed [CRu]) and incidence of grade 3 or 4 neurotoxicity, were assessed., Results: Between December 2006 and March 2009, 94 patients were treated with BR-CVP. Median patient age was 57 years (range, 29 to 84 years), and the majority had a high (47%) or intermediate (43%) Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index score. BR-CVP was extremely well tolerated, with 90% of patients completing the intended eight cycles. No patients developed grade 4 neurotoxicity, and only five of 94 patients (5%; 95% CI, 0.8% to 9.9%) developed grade 3 neurotoxicity, which was largely reversible. On the basis of an intention-to-treat analysis, 46 of 94 patients (49%; 95% CI, 38.8% to 59.0%) achieved a CR/CRu, and 32 of 94 patients (34%) achieved a partial response, for an overall response rate of 83% (95% CI, 75.4% to 90.6%)., Conclusion: The addition of bortezomib to standard-dose R-CVP for advanced-stage FL is feasible and well tolerated with minimal additional toxicity. The complete response rate in this high-risk population compares favorably to historical results of patients receiving R-CVP. Given these results, a phase III trial comparing BR-CVP with R-CVP is planned.

Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a clinically and molecularly heterogeneous disease. Gene expression profiling studies have shown that the tumor microenvironment affects survival and that the angiogenesis-related signature is prognostically unfavorable. The contribution of histopathological microvessel density to survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas treated with immunochemotherapy remains unknown. The purpose of this study is to assess the prognostic impact of histopathological microvessel density in two independent series of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with immunochemotherapy., Design and Methods: One hundred and forty-seven patients from the Leukemia Lymphoma Molecular Profiling Project (training series) and 118 patients from the Catalan Lymphoma-Study group-GELCAB (validation cohort) were included in the study. Microvessels were immunostained with CD31 and quantified with a computerized image analysis system. The stromal scores previously defined in 110 Leukemia Lymphoma Molecular Profiling Project cases were used to analyze correlations with microvessel density data., Results: Microvessel density significantly correlated with the stromal score (r=0.3209; P<0.001). Patients with high microvessel density showed significantly poorer overall survival than those with low microvessel density both in the training series (4-year OS 54% vs. 78%; P=0.004) and in the validation cohort (57% vs. 81%; P=0.006). In multivariate analysis, in both groups high microvessel density was a statistically significant unfavorable prognostic factor independent of international prognostic index [training series: international prognostic index (relative risk 2.7; P=0.003); microvessel density (relative risk 1.96; P=0.002); validation cohort: international prognostic index (relative risk 4.74; P<0.001); microvessel density (relative risk 2.4; P=0.016)]., Conclusions: These findings highlight the impact of angiogenesis in the outcome of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and the interest of evaluating antiangiogenic drugs in clinical trials.

Purpose: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) heterogeneity has prompted investigations for new biomarkers that can accurately predict survival. A previously reported 6-gene model combined with the International Prognostic Index (IPI) could predict patients' outcome. However, even these predictors are not capable of unambiguously identifying outcome, suggesting that additional biomarkers might improve their predictive power., Experimental Design: We studied expression of 11 microRNAs (miRNA) that had previously been reported to have variable expression in DLBCL tumors. We measured the expression of each miRNA by quantitative real-time PCR analyses in 176 samples from uniformly treated DLBCL patients and correlated the results to survival., Results: In a univariate analysis, the expression of miR-18a correlated with overall survival (OS), whereas the expression of miR-181a and miR-222 correlated with progression-free survival (PFS). A multivariate Cox regression analysis including the IPI, the 6-gene model-derived mortality predictor score and expression of the miR-18a, miR-181a, and miR-222, revealed that all variables were independent predictors of survival except the expression of miR-222 for OS and the expression of miR-18a for PFS., Conclusion: The expression of specific miRNAs may be useful for DLBCL survival prediction and their role in the pathogenesis of this disease should be examined further., (©2011 AACR.)

Purpose: In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), prior studies suggest that concordant bone marrow involvement with DLBCL portends a poorer prognosis, whereas discordant bone marrow involvement with small B-cell lymphoma does not. We examined the significance of bone marrow involvement in patients treated in the current era of therapy including rituximab., Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the prognostic impact of bone marrow involvement in an unselected population of patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone in British Columbia and Auckland, New Zealand, with complete clinical information and evaluable staging bone marrow biopsies., Results: In total, 795 patients were identified. Six hundred seventy (84.3%) of 795 had a negative bone marrow, 67 patients (8.4%) had concordant and 58 (7.3%) had discordant involvement. Median follow-up was 41 months (range, 1 to 115). Progression-free survival (PFS) was inferior in those with concordant (P < .001) and discordant (P = .019) involvement while overall survival (OS) was inferior in those with concordant involvement (P < .001) only. In a multivariate analysis controlling for the International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, concordant involvement remained an independent predictor of PFS (P < .001) and OS (P = .007). Discordant involvement was associated with older age, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, advanced stage, and increased number of extranodal sites and was not a negative prognostic factor independent of the IPI score., Conclusion: The negative prognostic impact of discordant involvement is adequately represented by the IPI score, while the risk with concordant involvement is greater than that encompassed by this predictor. The results emphasize the need for accurate staging assessment of bone marrow involvement in DLBCL.

Bortezomib and gemcitabine have each shown activity as single agents in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), which is incurable. The purpose of this phase II study was to determine the efficacy and safety of the previously unstudied combination of bortezomib and gemcitabine in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL. Patients were eligible if they had relapsed MCL with 1-3 prior therapies. Patients were treated with gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 and bortezomib 1.0 mg/m(2) IV on days 1, 4, 8, and 11, on a 21-day schedule. Twenty-six patients were evaluable for toxicity and 25 for response. The overall response rate was 60% and the median progression free survival was 11.4 months. The main adverse effects were hematological, with 40% and 48% of patients experiencing grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia and granulocytopenia, respectively. Bortezomib and gemcitabine is an active combination in relapsed and refractory MCL with clinically meaningful results. It offers a chemotherapy backbone to which other agents, less myelosuppressive, may be added.

Purpose: Patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can be divided into prognostic groups based on the cell of origin of the tumor as determined by microarray analysis. Various immunohistochemical algorithms have been developed to replicate these microarray results and/or stratify patients according to survival. This study compares some of those algorithms and also proposes some modifications., Patients and Methods: Two-hundred and sixty-two cases of de novo DLBCL treated with rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP-like therapy were examined., Results: The Choi algorithm and Hans algorithm had high concordance with the microarray results. Modifications of the Choi and Hans algorithms for ease of use still retained high concordance with the microarray results. Although the Nyman and Muris algorithms had high concordance with the microarray results, each had a low value for either sensitivity or specificity. The use of LMO2 alone showed the lowest concordance with the microarray results. A new algorithm (Tally) using a combination of antibodies, but without regard to the order of examination, showed the greatest concordance with microarray results. All of the algorithms divided patients into groups with significantly different overall and event-free survivals, but with different hazard ratios. With the exception of the Nyman algorithm, this survival prediction was independent of the International Prognostic Index. Although the Muris algorithm had prognostic significance, it misclassified a large number of cases with activated B-cell type DLBCL., Conclusion: The Tally algorithm showed the best concordance with the microarray data while maintaining prognostic significance and ease of use.

B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6), which encodes a transcriptional repressor, is a critical oncogene in diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs). Although a retro-inverted BCL6 peptide inhibitor (RI-BPI) was recently shown to potently kill DLBCL cells, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that RI-BPI induces a particular gene expression signature in human DLBCL cell lines that included genes associated with the actions of histone deacetylase (HDAC) and Hsp90 inhibitors. BCL6 directly repressed the expression of p300 lysine acetyltransferase (EP300) and its cofactor HLA-B-associated transcript 3 (BAT3). RI-BPI induced expression of p300 and BAT3, resulting in acetylation of p300 targets including p53 and Hsp90. Induction of p300 and BAT3 was required for the antilymphoma effects of RI-BPI, since specific blockade of either protein rescued human DLBCL cell lines from the BCL6 inhibitor. Consistent with this, combination of RI-BPI with either an HDAC inhibitor (HDI) or an Hsp90 inhibitor potently suppressed or even eradicated established human DLBCL xenografts in mice. Furthermore, HDAC and Hsp90 inhibitors independently enhanced RI-BPI killing of primary human DLBCL cells in vitro. We also show that p300-inactivating mutations occur naturally in human DLBCL patients and may confer resistance to BCL6 inhibitors. Thus, BCL6 repression of EP300 provides a basis for rational targeted combinatorial therapy for patients with DLBCL.