Department of Hematology
Contributions
Type: Publication Only
Background
Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent lymphoma, accounting for ~20-30% of all non-Hodgkin (NHL). It is an incurable disease with frequent relapses and shorter response to further treatments, developing drug resistance. Recently, using GWAS, polymorphisms in 6p21.3 region were related to susceptibility to develop NHL, including FL. The role of the HLA system in antigen presentation could be related to susceptibility and disease control. Previous studies show an association between HLA alleles and/or haplotypes and NHL. However, information regarding FL is little.
Aims
To analyze the role of HLA specificities in development and prognosis of FL.
Methods
A total of 149 consecutive patients from a single centre diagnosed of FL between 2000 and 2012 were included in the study. Grade 3b FL or those cases with DLBCL areas were not considered. Healthy donors (n=1940) from the CyL Bone Marrow Donors Registry as control group. HLA typing of class I (–A, –B y –C) and II (–DRB1 y –DQB1) at low resolution level were performed according to the EFI methodology. Allelic frequencies were estimated by direct counting. Phenotypic frequencies between groups were compared with the Fisher test, considering P <0.05 as statistical significant. P-value were corrected (Pc) according to the number of valid comparisons (Bonferroni correction).
Survival analyses were carried out using Kaplan-Meier. Differences between curves were estimated using the log-rank test (SPSS 20.0).
Results
There were no statistical differences in specificities frequencies of HLA class I. However, a higher incidence of HLA-DRB1*01 was observed in patients than in donors (46% vs. 19,5%, p<0,0001, Pc<0,0013).
The median follow-up of the series was of 75 months. A total of 82% of the patients received treatment for FL, 68% of them with Rituximab. Those patients receiving a CHOP-like plus Rituximab regimen and carrying the HLA-DRB1*13 had worse 10-year OFS (54% vs. 85%, p=0.05) compared with patients without this specificity.
Summary
The present study suggest an association between HLA-DRB1*01 and FL development, in line with previous studies. However, this study should be considered as preliminary, requiring higher sample size.
Financial support: Health Research Program (RD12/0036/0069, PS0901382), Health Council of Castilla y León (BIO/SA56/13, GRS265/A/08).
* Equal contribution
Keyword(s): Follicular lymphoma, HLA
Session topic: Publication Only
Type: Publication Only
Background
Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent lymphoma, accounting for ~20-30% of all non-Hodgkin (NHL). It is an incurable disease with frequent relapses and shorter response to further treatments, developing drug resistance. Recently, using GWAS, polymorphisms in 6p21.3 region were related to susceptibility to develop NHL, including FL. The role of the HLA system in antigen presentation could be related to susceptibility and disease control. Previous studies show an association between HLA alleles and/or haplotypes and NHL. However, information regarding FL is little.
Aims
To analyze the role of HLA specificities in development and prognosis of FL.
Methods
A total of 149 consecutive patients from a single centre diagnosed of FL between 2000 and 2012 were included in the study. Grade 3b FL or those cases with DLBCL areas were not considered. Healthy donors (n=1940) from the CyL Bone Marrow Donors Registry as control group. HLA typing of class I (–A, –B y –C) and II (–DRB1 y –DQB1) at low resolution level were performed according to the EFI methodology. Allelic frequencies were estimated by direct counting. Phenotypic frequencies between groups were compared with the Fisher test, considering P <0.05 as statistical significant. P-value were corrected (Pc) according to the number of valid comparisons (Bonferroni correction).
Survival analyses were carried out using Kaplan-Meier. Differences between curves were estimated using the log-rank test (SPSS 20.0).
Results
There were no statistical differences in specificities frequencies of HLA class I. However, a higher incidence of HLA-DRB1*01 was observed in patients than in donors (46% vs. 19,5%, p<0,0001, Pc<0,0013).
The median follow-up of the series was of 75 months. A total of 82% of the patients received treatment for FL, 68% of them with Rituximab. Those patients receiving a CHOP-like plus Rituximab regimen and carrying the HLA-DRB1*13 had worse 10-year OFS (54% vs. 85%, p=0.05) compared with patients without this specificity.
Summary
The present study suggest an association between HLA-DRB1*01 and FL development, in line with previous studies. However, this study should be considered as preliminary, requiring higher sample size.
Financial support: Health Research Program (RD12/0036/0069, PS0901382), Health Council of Castilla y León (BIO/SA56/13, GRS265/A/08).
* Equal contribution
Keyword(s): Follicular lymphoma, HLA
Session topic: Publication Only