Going rogue: how autoantibodies become pathogenic

Abstract

In 1972, reflecting on his theory of clonal selection, Sir Macfarlane Burnet noted similarities between the development of the “rogue” autoreactive lymphocyte clones that cause autoimmunity and the outgrowth of mutated cancer cells.1 This link between autoimmunity and cancer is well recognized in the clinic; autoimmunity often increases a patient’s risk of lymphoma, and resultant lymphomas are often of autoreactive antigen receptor specificity.2 The nature of this relationship between autoimmune lymphocyte clones and lymphoma is unclear.