Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma classification system that associates normal B-cell subset phenotypes with prognosis.

Purpose: Current diagnostic tests for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma use the updated WHO criteria based on biologic, morphologic, and clinical heterogeneity. We propose a refined classification system based on subset-specific B-cell-associated gene signatures (BAGS) in the normal B-cell hierarchy, hypothesizing that it can provide new biologic insight and diagnostic and prognostic value.

Patients And Methods: We combined fluorescence-activated cell sorting, gene expression profiling, and statistical modeling to generate BAGS for naive, centrocyte, centroblast, memory, and plasmablast B cells from normal human tonsils.