The precise clinicopathologic significance of myeloid differentiation primary response gene (MYD88) L265P mutation in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) remains elusive. To investigate the frequency and clinicopathologic significance of the MYD88 L265P mutation in DLBCLs, we conducted a meta-analysis of 40 published studies on 2736 DLBCL patients. We collected relevant published research findings identified using the PubMed and Embase databases. The effect sizes of outcome parameters were calculated using a random-effects model. In this meta-analysis, the MYD88 L265P mutation in DLBCL showed a significant difference according to tumor sites. The overall incidence of the MYD88 L265P mutation in DLBCLs, excluding the central nervous system and testicular DLBCLs, was 16.5%. Notably, the MYD88 L265P mutation rates of CNS and testicular DLBCL patients were 60% and 77%, respectively. Interestingly, the MYD88 L265P mutation was more frequently detected in activated B-cell-like (ABC) or non-germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) than GCB subtype (OR = 3.414, p < 0.001). The MYD88 L265P mutation was significantly associated with old age and poor overall survival, but not with sex and clinical stage. This pooled analysis demonstrates that the MYD88 L265P mutation is significantly associated with the tumor sites and molecular subtypes in DLBCL patients.Myeloid differentiation primary response gene (MYD88) is an adaptor protein that activates the nuclear transcription factor κB (NF-κB) signaling through most of the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 1 . An L265P mutation, a change from leucine (CTC) to proline (CCG), in the MYD88 Toll/interleukin (IL)-1 receptor domain, recruits MYD88 protien to the cytoplasmic tail of TLRs to form an active complex. The complex promotes NF-κB and Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK-STAT3) signaling 1 .Recently, many investigators have reported that the prevalence of MYD88 L265P mutation ranges from 0% to 94% in different series of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients 2-41 . However, since the MYD88 L265P mutation occurs at various frequencies of DLBCL, a general consensus on clinicopathologic implications has not been reached. DLBCL is a heterogeneous non-Hodgkin's lymphoma mainly comprising molecular subtypes such as germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) and activated B-cell-like (ABC) types 42 . Several studies have suggested that the frequency of MYD88 L265P mutation may vary depending on the tumor site or molecular subtype of DLBCL 2,8,21,24,30,41 , but individual studies with different designs hinder clear conclusions. Furthermore, the clinicopathologic significance of the MYD88 L265P mutation in each DLBCL patient was controversial.To address these controversies, we conducted a meta-analysis to examine the frequency of MYD88 L265P mutation and the relationship between this mutation and the clinicopathologic parameters of DLBCL patients.
ResultsPrevalence of MYD88 L265P mutation in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. On pooled analysis of 40 studies, includin...