Multiple DNA Rearrangements in the BCL2 Region in a Patient With Follicular Lymphoma

✍ Scribed by Erik Lundgren; Göran Roos; Ingrid Nordenson; Anders Wahlin; Jack Lind

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 572 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1045-2257
• DOI: 10.1002/gcc.2870030510

✦ Synopsis

A 39-year-old male with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was repeatedly studied with respect to D N A rearrangements with the two probes pFL-I and pFL-2, representing two segments of chromosome 18. The oncogene BCL2, detected by pFL-I, was as expected translocated to the J region of the immunoglobulin locus. The standard BCLZ translocation was found in three samples, one obtained at diagnosis, one ten months later, and one after 5 years. Another translocation was found with the probe pFL-2 hybridizing with a region located about 20 kb 3' from BCLZ. This latter rearrangement was found only in the first biopsy, which was obtained at the time of diagnosis, but not in the two later samples, when the morphology of the lymphoma was unchanged. No cytotoxic therapy had been given in the interval from diagnosis to disappearance of the latter rearrangement. Thus, one of the observed translocations (pFL-2) was detected only in the first biopsy, while the other (pFL-I) was a clonal marker in all three biopsies. The finding suggests that clonal evolution does not necessarily mean clinical progression.

Karyotype Analysis

Cytogenetic analysis of lymph node material was performed on two occasions, in March 1985, and in January 1990. The results were identical. The karyotype was 46, XY, t(14;18) (q32;q21), t(3;15) (q1l;qll).