Lymphoma

Illustration of a B cell surrounded by antibodies. Credit: Shutterstock. The key to understanding how the most aggressive lymphomas arise and resist current ...

In addition, such alteration of B cell natural selection is strikingly similar to the process of super-competition in developing organs in insect and animal embryos. Michael Meyer-Hermann](https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/research/research-topics/immune-response/systems-immunology/m-meyer-hermann/), a mathematician at the Helmholz Center for Infection Research in Germany. “Since we currently do not have therapies that work for these patients, understanding the processes involved in the development of the worst and most lethal forms of DLBCL is the first step toward intervention.” BTG1 mutations occur in about 70 percent of the most aggressive form of DLBCL and cause this process to go awry, allowing for more rapid induction of MYC protein expression in B cells. Coraline Mlynarczyk](https://vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid-chm2065), the paper’s first author, and a research associate in Dr. The study also illustrates how sensitive evolution is, to small effects that can dramatically increase cell fitness in the context of competition, Dr. To achieve this delicate balance, BTG1 controls the rate of MYC protein expression in B cells. “Therefore, this tiny 10 percent effect provides, over time, an important gain of “fitness” and leads to highly aggressive diseases.” “It amounts to a roughly 10 percent increase in the rate of MYC protein production.” These T cells select only a few B cells for survival, based on their capacity to bind antigens, the foreign particles on viruses and other microorganisms that trigger an immune response. Melnick](https://vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid-amm2014), the Gebroe Family Professor of Hematology/Oncology and a member of the [Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center](https://meyercancer.weill.cornell.edu/) at Weill Cornell Medicine. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with at least 40 percent of cases not responding to treatment.