Clinical, Morphologic, Phenotypic, and Genetic Evidence of Cyclin D1-positive Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphomas with CYCLIN D1 Gene Rearrangements

Overexpression of cyclin D1 in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) is observable in about 5% of cases and is linked to gains of additional CYCLIN D1 gene copies or deregulation at the mRNA level. All cyclin D1-positive DLBCL cases reported so far lack the canonical t(11;14)(q13;q32) translocation that is a genetic hallmark and the primary cause of cyclin D1 overexpression in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Using standard histologic and genetic techniques, complemented with genome-wide aberration analysis by array comparative genomic hybridization, we characterized 2 exceptional cases of blastoid B-cell lymphomas with cyclin D1 overexpression, both bearing genetic rearrangements in the CYCLIN D1 gene locus. One of them had a t(11;14)(q13;q32) translocation and featured morphology, immunophenotype, and genetic copy number aberrations typical of DLBCL. The second case had a complex t(4;11;14) translocation, but the other features were intermediate between DLBCL and MCL and did not allow unambiguous classification in any of the current diagnostic lymphoma categories. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that detection of t(11;14) should not preclude a diagnosis of cyclin D1-positive DLBCL when all other parameters are in agreement with such a diagnosis. Moreover, a yet unacknowledged diagnostic "gray zone" may exist between DLBCL and MCL.