Definition: Occurrence of an aggressive lymphoma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The two tumors are of distinct clonal origin (15105659).
Approximately 5% of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients develop a secondary aggressive lymphoma, usually of diffuse large B-cell type (DLBCL), termed Richter’s transformation (RT). Rarely, classic Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is observed. Tumor cells in DLBCL and HL can be clonally identical to the B-CLL clone or arise as an independent, secondary lymphoma.
References
Mao Z, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Raffeld M, Richter M, Krugmann J, Burek C, Hartmann E, Rudiger T, Jaffe ES, Muller-Hermelink HK, Ott G, Fend F, Rosenwald A. IgVH Mutational Status and Clonality Analysis of Richter’s Transformation: Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma and Hodgkin Lymphoma in Association With B-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL) Represent 2 Different Pathways of Disease Evolution. Am J Surg Pathol. 2007 Oct;31(10):1605-1614. PMID: 17895764