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Part of the B-cell receptor found on nearly all B-cell lymphomas; the target of the ADC polatuzumab vedotin and a frequently mutated gene in brain and testicular lymphoma.
CD79b (Igβ) pairs with CD79a to form the signalling subunit of the B-cell receptor. It is expressed on >95% of B-cell lymphomas and rapidly internalises, making it an ideal ADC target: polatuzumab vedotin (approved 2019; POLARIX first line 2023) is the only approved agent. CD79B Y196 mutations drive chronic active BCR signalling in ABC-DLBCL (MCD/C5 cluster), PCNSL and testicular lymphoma, and predict BTK-inhibitor sensitivity. CD79b CAR-T and bispecifics are in trials.
In plain words · Part of the B-cell receptor found on nearly all B-cell lymphomas; the target of the ADC polatuzumab vedotin and a frequently mutated gene in brain and testicular lymphoma.
Part of the B-cell receptor found on nearly all B-cell lymphomas; the target of the ADC polatuzumab vedotin and a frequently mutated gene in brain and testicular lymphoma.
Transmembrane Ig-superfamily protein with an ITAM motif; together with CD79a it couples antigen binding to SYK/BTK/PI3K signalling and mediates BCR internalisation.
1 product aims at CD79b: antibody-drug conjugates. Because it sits on the outside of the cell, it can be reached from the bloodstream: antibodies flag the cell, ADCs deliver a toxin, radioligands deliver radiation, and CAR-T or bispecifics bring a T cell.
Lineage antigen shared with normal B-cells and lymphoid tissue cells: HPA blood lineage lineage enriched at or above 25 nTPM, and 1 cell-killing or cell-finding medicine (Polatuzumab vedotin) aim at it, so normal cells of the lineage are hit too. HPA CD79B: RNA tissue enriched (lymphoid tissue 248 nTPM); blood lineage lineage enriched (B-cells 1,489 nTPM); high antibody staining in 4 normal tissues; highest cancer staining lymphoma (1 of 12 high). Distribution: 1 cancer family in the corpus carries a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Lymphoma); Open Targets associates it with 1 specific cancer type at or above 0.5 (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma). (Rule 5 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)
Sources: Human Protein Atlas CD79B tissue; Human Protein Atlas CD79B pathology; Open Targets ENSG00000007312 associations
First described 1992. Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Mueller B.S. et al, Eur. J. Immunol, 1992, "Cloning and sequencing of the cDNA encoding the human homologue of the murine immunoglobulin-associated protein B29". Source.
What a pathology or genomic report can say about this target, each with the thresholds approvals use.
Transmembrane Ig-superfamily protein with an ITAM motif; together with CD79a it couples antigen binding to SYK/BTK/PI3K signalling and mediates BCR internalisation.
RNA: tissue enriched (lymphoid tissue 248 nTPM), detected in many normal tissues. Blood: lineage enriched (B-cells 1,489 nTPM).
Medium: Colon, Rectum.
HPA CD79B tissue · HPA CD79B pathology · HPA protein class: CD markers, FDA approved drug targets
Human Protein Atlas version 25.1, antibody staining at reliability approved, enhanced or supported; used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Staining counts are patients per level in the atlas cohort, not population prevalence.
| Cancer | Prevalence | Measure | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma | 95% | surface expression | doi.org | |
| Primary CNS lymphoma | 50-70% | CD79B mutation |
Approximate, population-level figures; the measure column says what was counted. Ranges show the midpoint as a bar.
Polatuzumab vedotin is an ADC against CD79b that, swapped into the classic R-CHOP regimen, became the first improvement on frontline lymphoma therapy in twenty years.
An option with a demonstrated survival benefit for transplant-ineligible relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a group for whom very little has ever shown one. The fatal adverse event imbalance belongs in the conversation alongside the survival figure.
POLARIX gave the first new first-line standard for DLBCL since rituximab was added to CHOP, and pola-R-CHP is now approved and widely used, especially in higher-risk or ABC-type disease. The gain is modest and survival is unchanged, so many clinicians still use R-CHOP in lower-risk or GCB-type patients. Cost and subgroup uncertainty drive ongoing debate.
The piece that turns a research classification into something a trial can use on one person's biopsy, with a probability attached rather than a flat label. It is the reason genetics-directed lymphoma trials became possible at all.
The genetic nosology that precision-medicine trials in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma now use to pick patients. It gives a mechanism, not just a label: two of the four subtypes point at a drug class that already exists.
One of the two foundational genetic classifications of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Neither has yet changed what a patient receives outside a trial, but together they are the reason precision-medicine trials in this disease now select by genetics rather than by cell of origin.
One target page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
Query for this target: (TITLE:"CD79b" OR ABSTRACT:"CD79b" OR TITLE:"CD79B" OR ABSTRACT:"CD79B") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about CD79b, not a curated reading list.
Shares Cell of origin in practice: Hans against expression profiling, and what it changes, CD79B ITAM mutation, Assign first-line treatment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by genetic subtype, not by a three-antibody stain, MYD88 L265P and CXCR4 mutations.
Shares Polatuzumab vedotin plus rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: results from the phase III, randomized POLARGO trial, POLARIX: swapping vincristine for the antibody-drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin in first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, POLAR BEAR, POLARGO.
Shares Cell of origin in practice: Hans against expression profiling, and what it changes, Molecular subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma are associated with distinct pathogenic mechanisms and outcomes, LymphGen and the genetic clusters of large B-cell lymphoma, A probabilistic classification tool for genetic subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma with therapeutic implications.
Shares Molecular subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma are associated with distinct pathogenic mechanisms and outcomes, LymphGen and the genetic clusters of large B-cell lymphoma, A probabilistic classification tool for genetic subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma with therapeutic implications, Genetics and pathogenesis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Shares Cell of origin in practice: Hans against expression profiling, and what it changes, LymphGen and the genetic clusters of large B-cell lymphoma, Cell of origin (GCB vs ABC), B-cell receptor / BTK signalling (to NF-κB).
Shares POLAR BEAR, Genetics and pathogenesis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Cell of origin (GCB vs ABC), B-cell receptor / BTK signalling (to NF-κB).
Shares Assign first-line treatment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by genetic subtype, not by a three-antibody stain, Genetics and pathogenesis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Cell of origin (GCB vs ABC), B-cell receptor / BTK signalling (to NF-κB).
Shares Cell of origin in practice: Hans against expression profiling, and what it changes, Assign first-line treatment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by genetic subtype, not by a three-antibody stain, LymphGen and the genetic clusters of large B-cell lymphoma, A probabilistic classification tool for genetic subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma with therapeutic implications.