Comprehensive Genomic Profiling of Hodgkin Lymphoma Reveals Recurrently Mutated Genes and Increased Mutation Burden

Background The genomic landscape of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has been difficult to characterize due to the paucity of neoplastic cells and an abundant microenvironment. Such characterization is needed in order to improve treatment strategies. Materials and Methods We performed comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) using targeted next-generation sequencing on archival formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tumor samples from 63 patients to analyze the landscape of HL. Results CGP was successful for 49/63 archival specimens (78%), and revealed aberrations impacting genes including B2M, TP53, and XPO1 (E571). Of the 34 patients for whom total mutation burden (TMB; mutations/megabase [Mb]) was assessed, 5 (15%) had high TMB (>= 20 mutations/Mb), 18 (53%) had intermediate TMB (6-19 mutations/Mb), and 11 (32%) had low TMB (<= 5 mutations/Mb). We next tested 13 patients' plasma cell-free DNA with droplet digital polymerase chain reaction for the presence of XPO1 E571 mutation, which was confirmed in the plasma of 31% of patients. In three patients with serially collected plasma samples, XPO1 E571K allelic frequency changes corresponded with changes in tumor size on conventional radiographic imaging. Conclusion The study demonstrates that comprehensive genomic profiling of archival Hodgkin lymphoma tumor samples is feasible and leads to the identification of genes that are recurrently mutated and that Hodgkin lymphoma has increased mutation burden in the majority of samples analyzed. Furthermore, tracking of XPO1 E571 mutant allele frequency in a subset of patients may also represent a potential disease-monitoring strategy and warrants further investigation.