Papers by Santiago Montes-moreno

Oncotarget, Jan 30, 2015
Dysregulated NF-κB signaling is critical for lymphomagenesis. The regulation, function, and clini... more Dysregulated NF-κB signaling is critical for lymphomagenesis. The regulation, function, and clinical relevance of c-Rel/NF-κB activation in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have not been well studied. In this study we analyzed the prognostic significance and gene-expression signature of c-Rel nuclear expression as surrogate of c-Rel activation in 460 patients with de novo DLBCL. Nuclear c-Rel expression, observed in 137 (26.3%) DLBCL patients frequently associated with extranoal origin, did not show significantly prognostic impact in the overall- or germinal center B-like-DLBCL cohort, likely due to decreased pAKT and Myc levels, up-regulation of FOXP3, FOXO3, MEG3 and other tumor suppressors coincided with c-Rel nuclear expression, as well as the complicated relationships between NF-κB members and their overlapping function. However, c-Rel nuclear expression correlated with significantly poorer survival in p63+ and BCL-2- activated B-cell-like-DLBCL, and in DLBCL patients wit...

Oncotarget, Jan 10, 2015
Epstein-Barr virus-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the elderly (EBV+ DLBCL-e) is a mole... more Epstein-Barr virus-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the elderly (EBV+ DLBCL-e) is a molecularly distinct variant of DLBCL, characterized by a monoclonal B-cell proliferation that occurs in patients >50 years of age without a history or clinicopathologic evidence of immunodeficiency. However, patients with EBV+ DLBCL younger than 50-years-old also exist in Western countries. We evaluated the clinicopathologic, immunophenotypic and genetic features in Cacausian patients with EBV+ DLBCL who are ≤50 years of age and compared this patient group to patients who are >50 years. In patients who are ≤50 years, less frequent expression of BCL6 and a trend of more frequent expression of CD30 and pSTAT3 were found in patients with EBV+ DLBCL. In patients who are >50 years, common expression of CD30, p50, pSTAT3 and less frequent expression of BCL6 were observed. Older patients also more commonly had a poor performance status (ECOG≥2). Comparing EBV+ DLBCL patients in ≤50 years ...

Histopathology, 2015
Here we report two cases of follicular lymphoma that transformed to CD30 positive diffuse large B... more Here we report two cases of follicular lymphoma that transformed to CD30 positive diffuse large B cell lymphoma and review the literature on this topic. The first case represents an example of early transformation of conventional low grade follicular lymphoma to CD30 positive large B cell lymphoma. IgH and cytogenetic identity was demonstrated between both components. High-dose and auto-SCT was applied and complete response was achieved. The second case represents an example of d'emblee transformation of intrafollicular neoplasia to CD30 positive large B cell lymphoma. IgKde and cytogenetic identity between both phases was demonstrated. The patient was in partial response after 4 cycles of R-CHOP. CD30 expression was found to be associated in these cases to the transformation event and could be considered a therapeutic target to add to conventional immunochemotherapeutic regimens, even in combination with auto-SCT. We suggest to look for CD30 expression in transformed follicular lymphoma cases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Oncotarget, Jan 8, 2015
CD5 is a pan-T-cell surface marker and is rarely expressed in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBC... more CD5 is a pan-T-cell surface marker and is rarely expressed in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Large-scale studies of de novo CD5+ DLBCL are lacking in Western countries. In this study by the DLBCL Rituximab-CHOP Consortium, CD5 was expressed in 5.5% of 879 DLBCL patients from Western countries. CD5+ DLBCL was associated with higher frequencies of >1 ECOG performance status, bone marrow involvement, central nervous system relapse, activated B-cell-like subtype, Bcl-2 overexpression, and STAT3 and NF-κB activation, whereas rarely expressed single-stranded DNA-binding protein 2 (SSBP2), CD30 or had MYC mutations. With standard R-CHOP chemotherapy, CD5+ DLBCL patients had significantly worse overall survival (median, 25.3 months vs. not reached, P< .0001) and progression-free survival (median, 21.3 vs. 85.8 months, P< .0001) than CD5- DLBCL patients, which was independent of Bcl-2, STAT3, NF-κB and the International Prognostic Index. Interestingly, SSBP2 expression aboli...

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2014
Activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) regulates tumor growth, inva... more Activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) regulates tumor growth, invasion, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, immune response, and survival. Data regarding expression of phosphorylated (activated) STAT3 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the impact of phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3) on prognosis are limited. We evaluated expression of pSTAT3 in de novo DLBCL using immunohistochemistry, gene expression profiling (GEP), and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Results were analyzed in correlation with cell-of-origin (COO), critical lymphoma biomarkers, and genetic translocations. pSTAT3 expression was observed in 16% of DLBCL and was associated with advanced stage, multiple extranodal sites of involvement, activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype, MYC expression, and MYC/BCL2 expression. Expression of pSTAT3 predicted inferior overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with de novo DLBCL. When DLBCL cases were stratified accordi...

Oncotarget, Jan 21, 2015
Abnormal expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 plays an essential role in tumor cell dissemi... more Abnormal expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 plays an essential role in tumor cell dissemination and disease progression. However, the significance of CXCR4 overexpression in de novo diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is unknown. In 743 patients with de novo diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who received standard Rituximab-CHOP immunochemotherapy, we assessed the expression of CXCR4 and dissected its prognostic significance in various DLBCL subsets. Our results showed that CXCR4+ patients was associated with male, bulky tumor, high Ki-67 index, activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype, and Myc, Bcl-2 or p53 overexpression. Moreover, CXCR4+ was an independent factor predicting poorer progression-free survival in germinal-center B-cell-like (GCB)-DLBCL, but not in ABC-DLBCL; and in patients with an IPI of ≤2, but not in those with an IPI>2. The lack of prognostic significance of CXCR4 in ABC-DLBCL was likely due to the activation of p53 tumor suppressor attenuating CXCR4 s...
Nucleic Acids Research, 2014
together with changes at histone H3K27me3 and histone H3K4me3. Inhibition of the NF-kB pathway im... more together with changes at histone H3K27me3 and histone H3K4me3. Inhibition of the NF-kB pathway impairs changes in miRNA expression, NF-kB binding and changes at the above histone modifications near the TSS of these miRNA genes. Changes in expression of these miRNAs also occurred in diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL), which are strongly NF-kB dependent. Our results highlight the relevance of the NF-kB pathway in epigenetically mediated miRNA control in B cell transformation and DLBCL.
Haematologica, Jan 31, 2014
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Modern Pathology, 2014
The activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) transcription factor family is considered to have... more The activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) transcription factor family is considered to have a key role in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) pathogenesis and is associated with a specific molecular subtype, the activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype. We evaluated the expression of NFκB by immunohistochemistry in a large series of DLBCL cases. The five different NFκB family members (NFκB1, NFκB2, RELA, RELB, and REL) showed a heterogeneous expression pattern with the vast majority of cases being positive for at least one factor. Two independent series of tumor samples were classified into germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) or ABC subtypes using different approaches, immunohistochemistry, or gene expression profiling, and the expression of NFκB family members was assessed. Notably, no significant differences regarding the expression of the different NFκB members were detected between the two subtypes, suggesting that NFκB signaling is a prominent feature not only in the ABC subtype, but also in the GCB tumors. Of the five transcription factors, only REL expression had a significant clinical impact on R-CHOP-treated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, identifying a subgroup of patients with superior clinical outcome.

Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2014
The diagnosis of primary myelofibrosis (PMF) strongly relies on the bone marrow biopsy findings, ... more The diagnosis of primary myelofibrosis (PMF) strongly relies on the bone marrow biopsy findings, but a report model has not been standardised. Our aim was to establish general recommendations for bone marrow evaluation and standardised reporting in a case suspicious of PMF. The Delphi method was employed to obtain expert consensus. An advisory panel of 10 leading members identifies a total of 37 haematopathology experts to participate. The first Delphi round included a questionnaire with three main groups of items: minimal clinical and laboratory data considered necessary before reporting, minimal descriptive aspects to record and main histological differential diagnosis. The final report content was based on consensus obtained after the second Delphi round. The minimal data considered necessary were age, splenomegaly, haemoglobin, leucocyte and platelet counts, differential blood cell count, leucoerythroblastic blood picture, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, BCR-ABL and JAK2 mutational status, reticulin stain and the internal control for the reticulin staining. The minimal descriptive aspects to report were cellularity, osteosclerosis, megakaryocytic morphology and localisation, dense megakaryocytic clusters, quantity of granulocytic precursors, grade of myelofibrosis in a scale of 4, and a proposed final diagnostic approach. The entities to be considered for differential diagnosis were mainly the other classical chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. The Delphi method is a robust tool to determine essential information to be included in a pathology report. A standardised good-quality histopathological report form may help to homogenise PMF diagnosis. A close collaboration between the pathologist and the haematologist is desirable according to our survey.

Histopathology, 2011
The World Health Organization lymphoma classification recognizes two different Epstein-Barr virus... more The World Health Organization lymphoma classification recognizes two different Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders of childhood: systemic EBV-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disease of childhood, and hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoma, which is more prevalent in Asia and Latin America. The aim of this study was to characterize six cases of paediatric EBV-positive peripheral T-cell lymphoma with distinct features. All cases were male, with a median patient age of 9 years (range: 5-17 years). Most of them presented suddenly with fever, weight loss, hepatosplenomegaly, peripheral lymphadenopathy, and high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. Moreover, gut, lung or soft tissues of the abdominal wall were also affected in four cases. Partial to total replacement of the lymph node by pleomorphic infiltration of atypical neoplastic cells was found in all cases. Vasculitis and geographical areas of necrosis were seen in three and four cases, respectively. Neoplastic cells showed expression of EBV-encoded RNA, T-cell markers (CD2 and CD3), and cytotoxic markers (TIA1, granzyme-B, and perforin). CD56 and T-cell receptor -γ were expressed in one case each. TCR-BF1, CD4, CD8 and anaplastic lymphoma kinase were negative. In all cases, the disease progressed rapidly, causing death of the patient, with a median survival of 7.1 months (range: 1-13 months). These cases probably represent a solid form of systemic EBV-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disease of childhood, which requires identification and the development of appropriate therapy.
Histopathology, 2010
In conclusion, immunohistochemical detection of spirochetes in paraffin-embedded samples is of gr... more In conclusion, immunohistochemical detection of spirochetes in paraffin-embedded samples is of great value for proper diagnosis of these types of cases, initially suspected of being a dendritic ⁄ reticular cell tumour ⁄ sarcoma.

Haematologica, 2014
Correspondence: [email protected] B-cell lymphomas comprise an increasing number of clinicopatholog... more Correspondence: [email protected] B-cell lymphomas comprise an increasing number of clinicopathological entities whose characterization has historically been based mainly on histopathological features. In recent decades, the analysis of chromosomal aberrations as well as gene and miRNA expression profile studies have helped distinguish particular tumor types and also enabled the detection of a number of targets with therapeutic implications, such as those activated downstream of the B-cell receptor. Our ability to identify the mechanisms involved in B-cell lymphoma pathogenesis has been boosted recently through the use of Next Generation Sequencing techniques in the analysis of human cancer. This work summarizes the recent findings in the molecular pathogenesis of B-cell neoplasms with special focus on those clinically relevant somatic mutations with the potential to be explored as candidates for the development of new targeted therapies. Our work includes a comparison between the mutational indexes and ranges observed in B-cell lymphomas and also with other solid tumors and describes the most striking mutational data for the major B-cell neoplasms. This review describes a highly dynamic field that currently offers many opportunities for personalized therapy, although there is still much to be gained from the further molecular characterization of these clinicopathological entities. ABSTRACT © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n haematologica | 2014; 99(2) © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n haematologica | 2014; 99(2) © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n haematologica | 2014; 99(2) © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n B-cell lymphoma mutations haematologica | 2014; 99(2) 231 © F e r r a t a S t o r t i F o u n d a t i o n

British Journal of Haematology, 2010
Despite recent therapeutic improvements, the clinical course of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DL... more Despite recent therapeutic improvements, the clinical course of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) still differs considerably among patients. We conducted this retrospective multi-centre study to evaluate the impact of genomic aberrations detected using a high-density genome wide-single nucleotide polymorphism-based array on clinical outcome in a population of DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP-21 (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicine, vincristine and prednisone repeated every 21 d). 166 DNA samples were analysed using the GeneChip Human Mapping 250K NspI. Genomic anomalies were analysed regarding their impact on the clinical course of 124 patients treated with R-CHOP-21. Unsupervised clustering was performed to identify genetically related subgroups of patients with different clinical outcomes. Twenty recurrent genetic lesions showed an impact on the clinical course. Loss of genomic material at 8p23.1 showed the strongest statistical significance and was associated with additional aberrations, such as 17p- and 15q-. Unsupervised clustering identified five DLBCL clusters with distinct genetic profiles, clinical characteristics and outcomes. Genetic features and clusters, associated with a different outcome in patients treated with R-CHOP, have been identified by arrayCGH.

British Journal of Haematology, 2011
To characterize diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with chromosome 7 gains, we combined clinic... more To characterize diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with chromosome 7 gains, we combined clinical data with genomic, RNA and miRNA profiling. Gains were associated with age &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;60 years, female gender, a trend for higher complete response rate, lower death rate, and better overall survival in patients treated with R-CHOP. Lesions were inversely associated with bone marrow involvement and number of extra-nodal sites. Differentially expressed transcripts were enriched of genes belonging to specific pathways and miRNAs targets. MIR96, MIR182, MIR589, MIR25 were shown significantly up-regulated in 7q+ DLBCL by real-time PCR.

Blood, 2013
MDM2 is a key negative regulator of the tumor suppressor p53, however, the prognostic significanc... more MDM2 is a key negative regulator of the tumor suppressor p53, however, the prognostic significance of MDM2 overexpression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has not been defined convincingly. In a p53 genetically-defined large cohort of de novo DLBCL patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy, we assessed MDM2 and p53 expression by immunohistochemistry (n = 478), MDM2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (n = 364), and a single nucleotide polymorphism in the MDM2 promoter, SNP309, by SNP genotyping assay (n = 108). Our results show that MDM2 overexpression, unlike p53 overexpression, is not a significant prognostic factor in overall DLBCL. Both MDM2 and p53 overexpression do not predict for an adverse clinical outcome in patients with wild-type p53 but predicts for significantly poorer survival in patients with mutated p53. Variable p53 activities may ultimately determine the survival differences, as suggested by the gene expression profiling analysis. MDM2 amplification was observed in 3 of 364 (0.8%) patients with high MDM2 expression. The presence of SNP309 did not correlate with MDM2 expression and survival. This study indicates that evaluation of MDM2 and p53 expression correlating with TP53 genetic status is essential to assess their prognostic significance and is important for designing therapeutic strategies that target the MDM2-p53 interaction.
American Journal of Hematology, 2011

Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc, Jan 26, 2015
Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a transcription factor with a well-described oncogenic role. Study f... more Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a transcription factor with a well-described oncogenic role. Study for each of five NF-κB pathway subunits was only reported on small cohorts in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In this large cohort (n=533) of patients with de novo DLBCL, we evaluated the protein expression frequency, gene expression signature, and clinical implication for each of these five NF-κB subunits. Expression of p50, p52, p65, RELB, and c-Rel was 34%, 12%, 20%, 14%, and 23%, whereas p50/p65, p50/c-Rel, and p52/RELB expression was 11%, 11%, and 3%, respectively. NF-κB subunits were expressed in both germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) and activated B-cell-like (ABC) DLBCL, but p50 and p50/c-Rel were associated with ABC-DLBCL. p52, RELB, and p52/RELB expressions were associated with CD30 expression. p52 expression was negatively associated with BCL2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) expression and BCL2 rearrangement. Although p52 expression was associated with better progression-free surviv...
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Papers by Santiago Montes-moreno