Onkológia 6/2013

The polymorphisms of DNA-repair genes in pathogenesis of NHL

The incidence of Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) has steadily been increasing in the last decades, making NHL an increasingly important contributor to the overall cancer burden. The underlying reasons of this trend remain largely unknown. Chromosomal translocations are a hallmark of NHL and can arise as a consequence of aberrant repair of double-strand breaks induced by different external exposures. However, alterations in endogenous processes such as V(D)J recombination and class-switch recombination during lymphocyte maturation could also contribute to such rearrangements. DNA repair mechanisms are crucial in maintaining genomic stability. Common polymorphic variants in genes for DNA repair may cause a reduction in DNA repair capacity and influence an individual’s susceptibility to carcinogenesis. Studies conducted in recent years confirm the role of polymorphisms in DNA repair genes in pathogenesis of NHL, with specific variants having significant impact on the risk of NHL. In the future, testing of these markers is expected to be introduced to the clinical practice with the aim of the identification of individuals with increased lymphoma risk.

Keywords: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, DNA repair genes, single-nucleotide polymorphisms.