Description
We performed genomic and transcriptomic analysis of seven cases of molecular Burkitt lymphoma (mBL) developed in immunosuppressed patients who underwent solid organ transplantation. Interestingly, three cases (43%) were MYC-translocation-negative and revealed the 11q-gain/loss aberration recently identified in 3% of mBL developed in immunocompetent hosts.1 Based on array CGH data, minimal gain and loss regions of 11q (MGR/~4Mb and MLR/~13.5Mb, respectively) were defined and integrative genomic and transcriptomic analysis identified 35 differentially expressed genes, when compared with classic BL. All 16 MGR-dysregulated genes were upregulated, including cancer related USP2, CBL and PAFAH1B2. As expected, all 19 MGL-dysregulated genes were downregulated and two of them, TBRG1 and EI24, are potential tumor suppressor genes. Interestingly, the vast majority of dysregulated 11q23-q25 genes are involved in the MYC and TP53 networks. We hypothesize that the 11q-gain/loss aberration represents a molecular variant of t(8q24/MYC) and affects the same pathological pathways as the MYC oncogene.