Prognostic Importance of DUSP22 (Dual Specificity Phosphatase 22) Gene Expression in Low-Grade Lymphomas

Objectives: Dual specificity phosphatase 22 (DUSP22) is a novel phosphatase and has been demonstrated to be a cancer suppressor gene associated with various biological and pathological processes.The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic importance of DUSP22 expression in low-grade lymphomas. Methods: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect DUSP22 and 76 cases with indolent lymphoma were evaluated for DUSP22 expression. Thirty-nine had follicular lymphoma (FL), 30 had marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) and 7 had chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Results: DUSP22 expression was detected in 17 cases (22.3%). The mean overall survival (OS) was found to be longer in cases without DUSP22 compared to cases with DUSP22 expression while event-free survival (EFS) was not different between the cases according to the DUSP22 expression. In univariate analysis, stage (early-stage disease p=0.0001), gender (female p=0.009) and DUSP22 expression (p=0.018) were found to be independent prognostic factors according to Cox regression analysis.. Conclusion: There is no sufficient data about the clinical and/or prognostic significance of DUSP22 rearrangement in lymphomas except ALK (-) anaplastic large cell lymphoma. We found that DUSP22 is poor prognostic indicator in cases with low grade lymphomas.