Genomic Landscape Including Novel Mutational Drivers In Relapsed/ Refractory Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

Background: Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common aggressive lymphoid malignancy in adults. Though standard immunochemotherapy regimens can result in clinical remission and cure in a majority of patients, approximately 30% of patients are primary refractory or eventually relapse, and their prognosis is very poor. Recent progress by large scale genomic and transcriptomic profiling of DLBCL patients has resulted in a deep understanding of disease drivers in newly diagnosed DLBCL (ndDLBCL). However, previous genomic studies of relapsed and/or refractory DLBCL (rrDLBCL) are limited by small sample sizes and much less is known about the genomic landscape or the changes in clonal populations that occur within a patient undergoing R-CHOP therapy. Analysis of a large cohort of rrDLBCL is needed to uncover the importance of known drivers, define clonal shifts that occur in relapsing patients, and discover novel mutations that impact resistance to therapy.