title: MYC and aggressive B-cell lymphomas.
abstract: Rearrangement of the proto-oncogene MYC leads to MYC protein deregulation and is an important driver of oncogenic transformation. MYC rearrangement is a recurring genetic abnormality in several aggressive B-cell lymphomas including: Burkitt lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; B-cell lymphoma, unclassifiable with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma; rare de novo acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia, transformed follicular lymphoma, and plasmablastic lymphoma. Important distinctions in the role of MYC in these tumors likely reflect whether it is a primary or secondary genetic event. The presence of a MYC rearrangement in these diseases has diagnostic and prognostic implications and it is important for the practicing anatomic pathologist to be familiar with these issues when diagnosing aggressive B-cell lymphomas. This review provides a brief overview of MYC biology; shows the clinical and pathologic features of the aggressive B-cell lymphomas that harbor recurrent MYC rearrangements; explores the diagnostic and clinical implications of MYC rearrangements in these diseases; and outlines the techniques available to the anatomic pathologist to detect MYC deregulation.
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada. gslack@bccancer.bc.ca
authors.forename: Graham W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Slack
authors.forename: Randy D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Gascoyne
mesh_terms: D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc