A Genome- wide association study of marginal zone lymphoma shows association to HLA region.

Marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) encompasses a group of lymphomas that originate from marginal zone B cells present in extranodal tissue and lymph nodes. Three subtypes of MZL have been defined, extranodal MZL of mucosaassociated lymphoid tissue (MALT), splenic MZL and nodal MZL, which together account for 7–12% of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases. Geographic differences in incidence have been observed1, and inflammation, immune system dysregulation and infectious agents, such as Helicobacter pylori, have been implicated particularly for the gastric MALT subtype2, but little else is known of MZL aetiology. Here we perform the first two-stage, subtype-specific genomewide association study (GWAS) of MZL and identify two independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the HLA region associated with MZL risk. Together with recent studies on other common subtypes of NHL, these results point to shared susceptibility loci for lymphoma in the HLA region.