Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) revealedsignificant associations for SNPs mapping at the REL, GATA3 andTCF3 loci with cHL susceptibility. In this study, we aim to elucidatethe susceptibility mechanism of these associations by establishingpossible expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) effects. Methods.EQTL analysis was performed in EBV transformed lymphoblastoidcell lines (LCLs) generated from 96 controls and 70 former cHLpatients as well as in three previously published large gene expressionstudies of HRS cells and total HL tissue samples. Results. An eQTLeffect for REL was found using cHL total tissue array data...

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are being tested in clinical trials and show great promise in the treatment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). The proposed mechanism of action of these inhibitors consists of reactivating T lymphocytes that have become unresponsive as a consequence of inhibitory mechanisms exerted by the tumor cells. These reactivated T cells are expected to kill tumor cells after recognizing tumor cell derived antigens that are presented by Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) at the tumor cell surface. Consequently, lack of tumor cell surface expression of HLA may...

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a malignancy of germinal center (GC) B-cell origin. To explore the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in HL, we studied LncRNA expression patterns in normal B-cell subsets, HL cell lines, and tissues. Naive and memory B cells showed a highly similar lncRNA expression pattern, distinct from GC-B cells. Significant differential expression between I-IL and normal GC-B cells was observed for 475 lncRNA loci. For two validated lncRNAs, an enhanced expression was observed in HL, diffuse large 6-cell lymphoma, and lymphoblastoid cell lines. For...