Genome-wide detection of recurring sites of uniparental disomy in follicular and transformed follicular lymphoma

Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis was performed using the 10K GeneChip array on a series of 26 paired follicular lymphoma (FL) and transformed-FL (t-FL) biopsies and the lymphoma cell lines SCI-1, DoHH2 and RL2261. Regions of acquired homozygosity were detected in 43|[sol]|52 (83|[percnt]|) primary specimens with a mean of 1.7 and 3.0 aberrations in the FL and t-FL, respectively. A notable feature was the occurrence of recurring sites of acquired uniparental disomy (aUDP) on 6p, 9p, 12q and 17p in cell lines and primary samples. Homozygosity of 9p and 17p arose predominantly in t-FL and in three cases rendered the cell homozygous for a pre-existing mutation of either CDKN2A or TP53. These data suggest that mutation precedes mitotic recombination, which leads to the removal of the remaining wild-type allele. In all, 18 cases exhibited abnormalities in both FL and t-FL samples. In 10 cases blocks of homozygosity were detected in FL that were absent in the subsequent t-FL sample. These differences support the notion that FL and t-FL may arise in a proportion of patients by divergence from a common malignant ancestor cell rather than by clonal evolution from an antecedent FL

1 In Banking, Is Small Beautiful?

The state-led resolution of the 2007-2009 financial crisis has proven to be costly. Calls are being heard in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland to cap the size of domestic banks. Is small beautiful? In this policy paper, we first match bailing out cost data to the relative size of banks for a sample of 14 countries and 29 banks. An important observation is that some countries with relatively small banks faced large bailout cost when correlated systemic risk affected many banks. Secondly, we call to the attention that capping the size of banks can have an unintended effect: a lack of credit risk diversification. Risk diversification is needed to reduce the costs of financial distress, which are quite significant in the banking industry. If reducing public bail out costs is the right objective, capping the size of banks is not the best tool. So as to keep large banks that provide highly skilled employment opportunities in a services economy, we discuss four policy options that help to ensure financial stability: independence and accountability of bank supervisors, prompt corrective action mechanisms, burden sharing across countries, and an end to the too-big-to-fail doctrine