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Molecular Biology of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase–Positive Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma

From the Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

Address reprint requests to Jon C. Aster, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115; email: jaster{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu

ABSTRACT: Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) provides an excellent example of how molecular insights into tumor pathogenesis are influencing and improving tumor classification. ALCL was described initially as a subtype of T-cell/null-cell lymphoma characterized by unusual tumor cell morphology and the expression of CD30. However, it was soon recognized that a subset of ALCLs contained chromosomal translocations involving anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), a novel receptor tyrosine kinase gene. These rearrangements create chimeric genes encoding self-associating, constitutively active ALK fusion proteins that activate a number of downstream effectors, including phospholipase C-gamma, phosphoinositol 3'-kinase, RAS, and signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins, all of which seem potentially important in cellular transformation. Not all tumors classified as ALCLs have ALK rearrangements and, conversely, ALK rearrangements occur in lymphomas of widely varying morphology. Hence, only molecular markers can reliably identify ALK⁺ ALCL. The importance of doing so is reflected by clinical studies suggesting that ALK⁺ ALCLs have a significantly better prognosis than other aggressive peripheral T-cell or B-cell lymphomas, including ALK^- ALCLs. The unique molecular pathogenesis of ALK⁺ ALCL is likely to lead to novel therapeutic approaches directed at specific inhibition of ALK or downstream effectors.

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