Advances in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Biology: New Prognostic Factors and Outcome Prediction Using Gene Expression Signatures

Gene-expression signatures have been identified for the most common types of nonHodgkin lymphomas. These studies have demonstrated the ability of these technologies to identify pathogenic mechanisms, new molecular targets and biological processes involved in lymphomagenesis (Margalit, Somech et al. 2005). Thus, in the last decade molecular subtypes of diffuse large B-cell, namely germinal center B-cell and activated B-cell-like types, have been identified, each of which has their particular prognostic and therapeutic implications. Likewise, GEP studies have identified relevant molecular characteristics in follicular lymphomas (Alizadeh, Eisen et al. 2000; Alizadeh, Ross et al. 2001), primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphomas (Rosenwald, Wright et al. 2003), Burkitt lymphomas (Dave, Fu et al. 2006; Hummel, Bentink et al. 2006) or mantle cell lymphomas (Rosenwald, Wright et al. 2003). Specific therapeutic targets are likely to emerge from these insights into the molecular pathogenesis of the different lymphomas.