This Research Topic is the second volume of the “Mouse Models of B Cell Malignancies” Community Series. Please see Volume I here

B cell malignancies represent a vast group of different entities arising from the multiple differentiation stages of B cells. In humans, there is a large variety of B cell malignancies, most of which have a counterpart in mice. The prognosis and treatment of these malignancies are largely dependent on their type, stage, and grade. Genetically-modified mice bearing cancer-driving mutations of candidate genes (prooncogenes and tumor suppressors) implicated in B cell tumorigenesis or mimicking the alterations in their expression are essential tools to demonstrate the role of these genes in cancer. In addition, studying the development of B cell malignancies by genetically-modified mice has allowed uncovering neoplastic functions of a variety of genes, unveiling new targets for therapy. Therefore, these mouse models have become valuable tools as preclinical platforms for testing new therapies.

Malignant B cells, like their normal counterparts, have the ability to disseminate around the body. Moreover, they can infiltrate tissues and have the remarkable ability to generate clonal diversity by mutation, often resulting in the development of treatment resistances. The microenvironment is crucial to driving tumor evolution and, at the moment, the complexity of the crosstalk between malignant B cells, normal lymphoid cells, and stroma cannot be properly recapitulated in vitro. Mouse models of B cell malignancies thus offer the possibility to study these complex relations in vivo and provide new insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving tumor evolution.

In this Research Topic we aim to summarize the main characteristics of the available mouse models of B cell malignancies, including 1) mouse models in the crossroad of inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer, focusing on the role of B cells, 2) the identification and characterization of new genes and/or mutations involved in the etiology of the different types of B cell leukemia and lymphoma 3) the accuracy of mouse models of B cell malignancies in recapitulating the human diseases and their limitations, 4) the relevance of these models as platforms for therapeutic development and 5) mouse models of pathogen-driven B cell transformation.

We welcome Original Research articles, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Methods, and Perspectives focusing on mouse models of the following B cell malignancies:

• Hodgkin lymphoma

• non-Hodgkin lymphoma

• B-cell leukemia

• plasma cell neoplasms

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Frontiers in Immunology

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