Browsing by Author "Xu-Monette, Zijun Y"
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Item Open Access Assessment of CD37 B-cell antigen and cell of origin significantly improves risk prediction in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(BLOOD, 2016-12-29) Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Li, Ling; Byrd, John C; Jabbar, Kausar J; Manyam, Ganiraju C; de Winde, Charlotte Maria; van den Brand, Michiel; Tzankov, Alexandar; Visco, Carlo; Wang, Jing; Dybkaer, Karen; Chiu, April; Orazi, Attilio; Zu, Youli; Bhagat, Govind; Richards, Kristy L; Hsi, Eric D; Choi, William WL; Huh, Jooryung; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andres JM; Moller, Michael B; Parsons, Ben M; Winter, Jane N; Wang, Michael; Hagemeister, Frederick B; Piris, Miguel A; van Krieken, J Han; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Li, Yong; van Spriel, Annemiek B; Young, Ken HItem Open Access CD30 expression defines a novel subgroup of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with favorable prognosis and distinct gene expression signature: a report from the International DLBCL Rituximab-CHOP Consortium Program Study.(Blood, 2013-04) Hu, Shimin; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Balasubramanyam, Aarthi; Manyam, Ganiraju C; Visco, Carlo; Tzankov, Alexander; Liu, Wei-min; Miranda, Roberto N; Zhang, Li; Montes-Moreno, Santiago; Dybkær, Karen; Chiu, April; Orazi, Attilio; Zu, Youli; Bhagat, Govind; Richards, Kristy L; Hsi, Eric D; Choi, William WL; Han van Krieken, J; Huang, Qin; Huh, Jooryung; Ai, Weiyun; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andrés JM; Zhao, Xiaoying; Winter, Jane N; Zhang, Mingzhi; Li, Ling; Møller, Michael B; Piris, Miguel A; Li, Yong; Go, Ronald S; Wu, Lin; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Young, Ken HCD30, originally identified as a cell-surface marker of Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin cells of classical Hodgkin lymphoma, is also expressed by several types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, the prognostic and biological importance of CD30 expression in DLBCL is unknown. Here we report that CD30 expression is a favorable prognostic factor in a cohort of 903 de novo DLBCL patients. CD30 was expressed in ∼14% of DLBCL patients. Patients with CD30(+) DLBCL had superior 5-year overall survival (CD30(+), 79% vs CD30(-), 59%; P = .001) and progression-free survival (P = .003). The favorable outcome of CD30 expression was maintained in both the germinal center B-cell and activated B-cell subtypes. Gene expression profiling revealed the upregulation of genes encoding negative regulators of nuclear factor κB activation and lymphocyte survival, and downregulation of genes encoding B-cell receptor signaling and proliferation, as well as prominent cytokine and stromal signatures in CD30(+) DLBCL patients, suggesting a distinct molecular basis for its favorable outcome. Given the superior prognostic value, unique gene expression signature, and significant value of CD30 as a therapeutic target for brentuximab vedotin in ongoing successful clinical trials, it seems appropriate to consider CD30(+) DLBCL as a distinct subgroup of DLBCL.Item Open Access Clinical and pathological characteristics of HIV- and HHV-8-negative Castleman disease.(Blood, 2017-03) Yu, Li; Tu, Meifeng; Cortes, Jorge; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Miranda, Roberto N; Zhang, Jun; Orlowski, Robert Z; Neelapu, Sattva; Boddu, Prajwal C; Akosile, Mary A; Uldrick, Thomas S; Yarchoan, Robert; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Li, Yong; Fajgenbaum, David C; Young, Ken HCastleman disease (CD) comprises 3 poorly understood lymphoproliferative variants sharing several common histopathological features. Unicentric CD (UCD) is localized to a single region of lymph nodes. Multicentric CD (MCD) manifests with systemic inflammatory symptoms and organ dysfunction due to cytokine dysregulation and involves multiple lymph node regions. Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) causes MCD (HHV-8-associated MCD) in immunocompromised individuals, such as HIV-infected patients. However, >50% of MCD cases are HIV and HHV-8 negative (defined as idiopathic [iMCD]). The clinical and biological behavior of CD remains poorly elucidated. Here, we analyzed the clinicopathologic features of 74 patients (43 with UCD and 31 with iMCD) and therapeutic response of 96 patients (43 with UCD and 53 with iMCD) with HIV-/HHV-8-negative CD compared with 51 HIV-/HHV-8-positive patients. Systemic inflammatory symptoms and elevated inflammatory factors were more common in iMCD patients than UCD patients. Abnormal bone marrow features were more frequent in iMCD (77.0%) than UCD (45%); the most frequent was plasmacytosis, which was seen in 3% to 30.4% of marrow cells. In the lymph nodes, higher numbers of CD3+ lymphocytes (median, 58.88 ± 20.57) and lower frequency of CD19+/CD5+ (median, 5.88 ± 6.52) were observed in iMCD patients compared with UCD patients (median CD3+ cells, 43.19 ± 17.37; median CD19+/CD5+ cells, 17.37 ± 15.80). Complete surgical resection is a better option for patients with UCD. Siltuximab had a greater proportion of complete responses and longer progression-free survival (PFS) for iMCD than rituximab. Centricity, histopathological type, and anemia significantly impacted PFS. This study reveals that CD represents a heterogeneous group of diseases with differential immunophenotypic profiling and treatment response.Item Open Access Dysregulation of Cell Survival in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.(Frontiers in Oncology, 2019-01) Miao, Yi; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Li, Jianyong; Young, Ken HDiffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of lymphoma worldwide, representing 30-40% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and is clinically aggressive. Although more than half of patients with DLBCL are cured by using standard first-line immunochemotherapy, the remaining patients are refractory to the first-line therapy or relapse after complete remission and these patients require novel therapeutic approaches. Understanding the pathogenesis of DLBCL is essential for identifying therapeutic targets to tackle this disease. Cell survival dysregulation, a hallmark of cancer, is a characteristic feature of DLBCL. Intrinsic signaling aberrations, tumor microenvironment dysfunction, and viral factors can all contribute to the cell survival dysregulation in DLBCL. In recent years, several novel drugs that target abnormal cell survival pathways, have been developed and tested in clinical trials of patients with DLBCL. In this review, we discuss cell survival dysregulation, the underlying mechanisms, and how to target abnormal cell survival therapeutically in DLBCL patients.Item Open Access Flow cytometry quantification of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes to predict the survival of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(Frontiers in Immunology) Yu, Tiantian; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Lagoo, Anand; Shuai, Wen; Wang, Bangchen; Neff, Jadee; Carrillo, Luis F; Carlsen, Eric D; Pina-Oviedo, Sergio; Young, Ken HIntroductionOur previous studies have demonstrated that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), including normal B cells, T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells, in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have a significantly favorable impact on the clinical outcomes of patients treated with standard chemoimmunotherapy. In this study, to gain a full overview of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), we assembled a flow cytometry cohort of 102 patients diagnosed with DLBCL at the Duke University Medical Center.MethodsWe collected diagnostic flow cytometry data, including the proportion of T cells, abnormal B cells, normal B cells, plasma cells, NK cells, monocytes, and granulocytes in fresh biopsy tissues at clinical presentation, and analyzed the correlations with patient survival and between different cell populations.ResultsWe found that low T cell percentages in all viable cells and low ratios of T cells to abnormal B cells correlated with significantly poorer survival, whereas higher percentages of normal B cells among total B cells (or high ratios of normal B cells to abnormal B cells) and high percentages of NK cells among all viable cells correlated with significantly better survival in patients with DLBCL. After excluding a small number of patients with low T cell percentages, the normal B cell percentage among all B cells, but not T cell percentage among all cells, continued to show a remarkable prognostic effect. Data showed significant positive correlations between T cells and normal B cells, and between granulocytes and monocytes. Furthermore, we constructed a prognostic model based on clinical and flow cytometry factors, which divided the DLBCL cohort into two equal groups with remarkable differences in patient survival and treatment response.SummaryTILs, including normal B cells, T cells, and NK cells, are associated with favorable clinical outcomes in DLBCL, and flow cytometry capable of quantifying the TIME may have additional clinical utility for prognostication.Item Open Access Immunohistochemical double-hit score is a strong predictor of outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone.(Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012-10) Green, Tina Marie; Young, Ken H; Visco, Carlo; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Orazi, Attilio; Go, Ronald S; Nielsen, Ole; Gadeberg, Ole V; Mourits-Andersen, Torben; Frederiksen, Mikael; Pedersen, Lars Møller; Møller, Michael BoePURPOSE: Approximately 5% of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) are double-hit lymphomas (DHLs) with translocations of both MYC and BCL2. DHLs are characterized by poor outcome. We tested whether DLBCLs with high expression of MYC protein and BCL2 protein share the clinical features and poor prognosis of DHLs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Paraffin-embedded lymphoma samples from 193 patients with de novo DLBCL who were uniformly treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) were studied using immunohistochemistry for MYC, BCL2, CD10, BCL6, and MUM1/interferon regulatory factor 4, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for MYC and BCL2. RESULTS: FISH analysis identified DHL in 6% of patients, who showed the expected poor overall survival (OS; P = .002). On the basis of immunohistochemical MYC and BCL2 expression, a double-hit score (DHS) was assigned to all patients with DLBCL. The DHS-2 group, defined by high expression of both MYC and BCL2 protein, comprised 29% of the patients. DHS 2 was significantly associated with lower complete response rate (P = .004), shorter OS (P < .001), and shorter progression-free survival (PFS; P < .001). The highly significant correlation with OS and PFS was maintained in multivariate models that controlled for the International Prognostic Index and the cell-of-origin subtype (OS, P < .001; PFS, P < .001). DHS was validated in an independent cohort of 116 patients who were treated with R-CHOP. CONCLUSION: The immunohistochemical DHS defined a large subset of DLBCLs with double-hit biology and was strongly associated with poor outcome in patients treated with R-CHOP.Item Open Access MDM2 phenotypic and genotypic profiling, respective to TP53 genetic status, in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with rituximab-CHOP immunochemotherapy: a report from the International DLBCL Rituximab-CHOP Consortium Program.(Blood, 2013-10) Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Møller, Michael B; Tzankov, Alexander; Montes-Moreno, Santiago; Hu, Wenwei; Manyam, Ganiraju C; Kristensen, Louise; Fan, Lei; Visco, Carlo; Dybkaer, Karen; Chiu, April; Tam, Wayne; Zu, Youli; Bhagat, Govind; Richards, Kristy L; Hsi, Eric D; Choi, William WL; van Krieken, J Han; Huang, Qin; Huh, Jooryung; Ai, Weiyun; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andrés JM; Wu, Lin; Zhao, Xiaoying; Bueso-Ramos, Carlos E; Wang, Sa A; Go, Ronald S; Li, Yong; Winter, Jane N; Piris, Miguel A; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Young, Ken HMDM2 is a key negative regulator of the tumor suppressor p53, however, the prognostic significance of MDM2 overexpression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has not been defined convincingly. In a p53 genetically-defined large cohort of de novo DLBCL patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy, we assessed MDM2 and p53 expression by immunohistochemistry (n = 478), MDM2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (n = 364), and a single nucleotide polymorphism in the MDM2 promoter, SNP309, by SNP genotyping assay (n = 108). Our results show that MDM2 overexpression, unlike p53 overexpression, is not a significant prognostic factor in overall DLBCL. Both MDM2 and p53 overexpression do not predict for an adverse clinical outcome in patients with wild-type p53 but predicts for significantly poorer survival in patients with mutated p53. Variable p53 activities may ultimately determine the survival differences, as suggested by the gene expression profiling analysis. MDM2 amplification was observed in 3 of 364 (0.8%) patients with high MDM2 expression. The presence of SNP309 did not correlate with MDM2 expression and survival. This study indicates that evaluation of MDM2 and p53 expression correlating with TP53 genetic status is essential to assess their prognostic significance and is important for designing therapeutic strategies that target the MDM2-p53 interaction.Item Open Access Molecular characteristics of mantle cell lymphoma presenting with clonal plasma cell component.(The American journal of surgical pathology, 2011-02) Visco, Carlo; Hoeller, Sylvia; Malik, Jeffrey T; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Wiggins, Michele L; Liu, Jessica; Sanger, Warren G; Liu, Zhongfeng; Chang, Julie; Ranheim, Erik A; Gradowski, Joel F; Serrano, Sergio; Wang, Huan-You; Liu, Qingquan; Dave, Sandeep; Olsen, Brian; Gascoyne, Randy D; Campo, Elias; Swerdlow, Steven H; Chan, Wing C; Tzankov, Alexander; Young, Ken HThe normal counterparts of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) are naive, quiescent B cells that have not been processed through the germinal center (GC). For this reason, although lymphomas arising from GC or post-GC B cells often exhibit plasmacytic differentiation, MCL rarely presents with plasmacytic features. Seven cases of MCL with a monotypic plasma cell (PC) population were collected from 6 centers and were studied by immunohistochemistry, fluorescence immunophenotyping and interphase cytogenetics as a tool for the investigation of neoplasms analysis, capillary gel electrophoresis, and restriction fragment length polymorphism of immunoglobulin heavy chain analysis of microdissections of each of the MCL and PC populations to assess their clonal relationship. The clinical presentation was rather unusual compared with typical MCL, with 2 cases arising from the extranodal soft tissues of the head. All MCL cases were morphologically and immunohistochemically typical, bearing the t(11;14)(q13;q32). In all cases, the PC population was clonal. In 5 of the 7 cases, the MCL and PC clones showed identical restriction fragments, indicating a common clonal origin of the neoplastic population. The 2 cases with clonal diversity denoted the coexistence of 2 different tumors in a composite lymphoma/PC neoplasm. Our findings suggest that MCL can present with a PC component that is often clonally related to the lymphoma, representing a rare but unique biological variant of this tumor.Item Open Access Mutational profile and prognostic significance of TP53 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated with R-CHOP: report from an International DLBCL Rituximab-CHOP Consortium Program Study.(Blood, 2012-11) Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Wu, Lin; Visco, Carlo; Tai, Yu Chuan; Tzankov, Alexander; Liu, Wei-min; Montes-Moreno, Santiago; Dybkaer, Karen; Chiu, April; Orazi, Attilio; Zu, Youli; Bhagat, Govind; Richards, Kristy L; Hsi, Eric D; Zhao, X Frank; Choi, William WL; Zhao, Xiaoying; van Krieken, J Han; Huang, Qin; Huh, Jooryung; Ai, Weiyun; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andrés JM; Zhou, Fan; Kahl, Brad S; Winter, Jane N; Xu, Wei; Li, Jianyong; Go, Ronald S; Li, Yong; Piris, Miguel A; Møller, Michael B; Miranda, Roberto N; Abruzzo, Lynne V; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Young, Ken HTP53 mutation is an independent marker of poor prognosis in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) therapy. However, its prognostic value in the rituximab immunochemotherapy era remains undefined. In the present study of a large cohort of DLBCL patients treated with rituximab plus CHOP (R-CHOP), we show that those with TP53 mutations had worse overall and progression-free survival compared with those without. Unlike earlier studies of patients treated with CHOP, TP53 mutation has predictive value for R-CHOP-treated patients with either the germinal center B-cell or activated B-cell DLBCL subtypes. Furthermore, we identified the loop-sheet-helix and L3 motifs in the DNA-binding domain to be the most critical structures for maintaining p53 function. In contrast, TP53 deletion and loss of heterozygosity did not confer worse survival. If gene mutation data are not available, immunohistochemical analysis showing > 50% cells expressing p53 protein is a useful surrogate and was able to stratify patients with significantly different prognoses. We conclude that assessment of TP53 mutation status is important for stratifying R-CHOP-treated patients into distinct prognostic subsets and has significant value in the design of future therapeutic strategies.Item Open Access MYC/BCL2 protein coexpression contributes to the inferior survival of activated B-cell subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and demonstrates high-risk gene expression signatures: a report from The International DLBCL Rituximab-CHOP Consortium Program.(Blood, 2013-05) Hu, Shimin; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Tzankov, Alexander; Green, Tina; Wu, Lin; Balasubramanyam, Aarthi; Liu, Wei-min; Visco, Carlo; Li, Yong; Miranda, Roberto N; Montes-Moreno, Santiago; Dybkaer, Karen; Chiu, April; Orazi, Attilio; Zu, Youli; Bhagat, Govind; Richards, Kristy L; Hsi, Eric D; Choi, William WL; Zhao, Xiaoying; van Krieken, J Han; Huang, Qin; Huh, Jooryung; Ai, Weiyun; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andrés JM; Zhou, Fan; Slack, Graham W; Gascoyne, Randy D; Tu, Meifeng; Variakojis, Daina; Chen, Weina; Go, Ronald S; Piris, Miguel A; Møller, Michael B; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Young, Ken HDiffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is stratified into prognostically favorable germinal center B-cell (GCB)-like and unfavorable activated B-cell (ABC)-like subtypes based on gene expression signatures. In this study, we analyzed 893 de novo DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone). We show that MYC/BCL2 protein coexpression occurred significantly more commonly in the ABC subtype. Patients with the ABC or GCB subtype of DLBCL had similar prognoses with MYC/BCL2 coexpression and without MYC/BCL2 coexpression. Consistent with the notion that the prognostic difference between the 2 subtypes is attributable to MYC/BCL2 coexpression, there is no difference in gene expression signatures between the 2 subtypes in the absence of MYC/BCL2 coexpression. DLBCL with MYC/BCL2 coexpression demonstrated a signature of marked downregulation of genes encoding extracellular matrix proteins, those involving matrix deposition/remodeling and cell adhesion, and upregulation of proliferation-associated genes. We conclude that MYC/BCL2 coexpression in DLBCL is associated with an aggressive clinical course, is more common in the ABC subtype, and contributes to the overall inferior prognosis of patients with ABC-DLBCL. In conclusion, the data suggest that MYC/BCL2 coexpression, rather than cell-of-origin classification, is a better predictor of prognosis in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP.Item Open Access PD-1 expression and clinical PD-1 blockade in B-cell lymphomas.(Blood, 2018-01) Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Zhou, Jianfeng; Young, Ken HProgrammed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade targeting the PD-1 immune checkpoint has demonstrated unprecedented clinical efficacy in the treatment of advanced cancers including hematologic malignancies. This article reviews the landscape of PD-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and current PD-1 blockade immunotherapy trials in B-cell lymphomas. Most notably, in relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, which frequently has increased PD-1+ tumor-infiltrating T cells, 9p24.1 genetic alteration, and high PD-L1 expression, anti-PD-1 monotherapy has demonstrated remarkable objective response rates (ORRs) of 65% to 87% and durable disease control in phase 1/2 clinical trials. The median duration of response was 16 months in a phase 2 trial. PD-1 blockade has also shown promise in a phase 1 trial of nivolumab in relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, including follicular lymphoma, which often displays abundant PD-1 expression on intratumoral T cells, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which variably expresses PD-1 and PD-L1. In primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, which frequently has 9p24.1 alterations, the ORR was 35% in a phase 2 trial of pembrolizumab. In contrast, the ORR with pembrolizumab was 0% in relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and 44% in CLL with Richter transformation in a phase 2 trial. T cells from CLL patients have elevated PD-1 expression; CLL PD-1+ T cells can exhibit a pseudo-exhaustion or a replicative senescence phenotype. PD-1 expression was also found in marginal zone lymphoma but not in mantle cell lymphoma, although currently anti-PD-1 clinical trial data are not available. Mechanisms and predictive biomarkers for PD-1 blockade immunotherapy, treatment-related adverse events, hyperprogression, and combination therapies are discussed in the context of B-cell lymphomas.Item Open Access PD-1/PD-L1 expression and interaction by automated quantitative immunofluorescent analysis show adverse prognostic impact in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma having T-cell infiltration: a study from the International DLBCL Consortium Program.(Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc, 2019-06) Li, Ling; Sun, Ruifang; Miao, Yi; Tran, Thai; Adams, Lisa; Roscoe, Nathan; Xu, Bing; Manyam, Ganiraju C; Tan, Xiaohong; Zhang, Hongwei; Xiao, Min; Tzankov, Alexandar; Visco, Carlo; Dybkaer, Karen; Bhagat, Govind; Tam, Wayne; Hsi, Eric D; van Krieken, J Han; You, Hua; Huh, Jooryung; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Ferreri, Andrés JM; Møller, Michael B; Piris, Miguel A; Zhang, Mingzhi; Winter, Jane N; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Rassidakis, George Z; Vaupel, Christine A; Li, Yong; Dakappagari, Naveen; Xu-Monette, Zijun Y; Young, Ken HProgrammed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death protein ligand1 (PD-1/PD-L1) interaction is an important immune checkpoint targeted by anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies. However, the observed prognostic significance of PD-1/PD-L1 expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with the standard of care has been inconsistent and even contradictory. To clarify the prognostic role of PD-1/PD-L1 expression and interaction in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, in this study we used 3-marker fluorescent multiplex immunohistochemistry and Automated Quantitative Analysis Technology to assess the CD3+, PD-L1+, and PD-1+CD3+ expression in diagnostic samples and PD-1/PD-L1 interaction as indicated by presence of PD-1+CD3+ cells in the vicinity of PD-L1+ cells, analyzed their prognostic effects in 414 patients with de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and examined whether PD-1/PD-L1 interaction is required for the prognostic role of PD-1+/PD-L1+ expression. We found that low T-cell tissue cellularity, tissue PD-L1+ expression (irrespective of cell types), PD-1+CD3+ expression, and PD-1/PD-L1 interaction showed hierarchical adverse prognostic effects in the study cohort. PD-1/PD-L1 interaction showed higher sensitivity and specificity than PD-1+ and PD-L1+ expression in predicting inferior prognosis in patients with high CD3+ tissue cellularity ("hot"/inflammatory tumors). However, both PD-1+ and PD-L1+ expression showed adverse prognostic effects independent of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction, and PD-1/PD-L1 interaction showed favorable prognostic effect in PD-L1+ patients without high CD3+ tissue cellularity. Macrophage function and tumor-cell MYC expression may contribute to the PD-1-independent adverse prognostic effect of PD-L1+ expression. In summary, low T-cell tissue cellularity has unfavorable prognostic impact in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and tissue PD-L1+ expression and T-cell-derived PD-1+ expression have significant adverse impact only in patients with high T-cell infiltration. PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in tissue is essential but not always responsible for the inhibitory effect of PD-L1+/PD-1+ expression. These results suggest the benefit of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapies only in patients with sufficient T-cell infiltration, and the potential of immunofluorescent assays and Automated Quantitative Analysis in the clinical assessment of PD-1/PD-L1 expression and interaction.