Relapse involving the central nervous system (CNS) is an infrequent event in the progression of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) with an incidence of approximately four percent. We report four cases of MCL with CNS relapse. In three of the four patients a large chromosomal copy-number alteration (CNA) of 1q was demonstrated together with TP53 mutation/deletion. These patients experienced brief response to ibrutinib, whereas a fourth patient harboring mutated ATM demonstrated a long-term effect to ibrutinib and no CNA. Although it is unclear whether chromosome 1q CNA contribute to specific phenotypes these reports may be of value as such lesions are uncommon features of MCL.