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Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene rearrangements and in situ immunophenotyping in lymphoproliferative disorders

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Summary

We investigated for rearrangements of the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chain genes and of the T cell receptorγ (TCRTγ) andβ (TCrβ) genes 45 biopsy samples from a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders. They were diagnosed histopathologically and immunophenotypically as non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) of the B cell type (19 cases), NHLs of the T cell type (3 cases), NHLs of “undetermined“ cell type (3 cases), atypical lymphoid proliferation (1 case) and AIDS-related lymphadenopathies with florid polyclonal follicular hyperplasia (19 cases). A monoclonal proliferation of B cells was shown by DNA analysis in all 19 B cell NHLs. In two immunohistologically determined T cell NHLs (both diagnosed as mycosis fungoides) the cells had rearrangements of TCrβ gene, whereas in the third case (lymphoblastic NHL) the cells had rearrangements of Ig heavy chain and TCrγ and TCrβ genes. None of the B cell NHLs exhibited TCrγand TCrβ gene rearrangement bands. All the “undetermined” cell NHLs demonstrated rearrangements of Ig heavy chain gene associated with the germ line TCrγand TCrβ genes; in two cases light chain gene rearrangements were also found. The atypical lymphoid proliferation, in which the differential diagnosis was between a reactive or malignant process, and two out of 19 cases of florid polyclonal follicular hyperplasia showed a clonal B cell population by DNA analysis. This study indicates that there was a strong correlation between the rearrangements of specific genes and the immunophenotype of the NHL; moreover, DNA analysis of tissue biopsy specimens from phenotypically “undetermined” cell NHLs and from equivocal lymphoid proliferation using Ig and TCR gene probes yelded an answer in the cases analyzed. The significance of clonal B cell expansions found in two AIDS-related lymphadenopathies should be interpreted with caution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Divisions of Pathology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Via Pedemontana Occidentale, I-33081, Aviano, Italy

    Antonino Carbone, Annunziata Gloghini & Rachele Volpe

  2. Experimental Oncology 1st, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, Italy

    Valli De Re, Manuela Tavian & Mauro Boiocchi

  3. Medical Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, Italy

    Umberto Tirelli & Silvio Monfardini

Authors
  1. Antonino Carbone
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  2. Valli De Re
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  3. Annunziata Gloghini
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  4. Rachele Volpe
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  5. Manuela Tavian
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  6. Umberto Tirelli
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  7. Silvio Monfardini
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  8. Mauro Boiocchi
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Additional information

This work was supported in part by a Grant No 86.00644.44 from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Progetto Finalizzato “Oncologia”, Rome, and by the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Milan, Italy

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Carbone, A., De Re, V., Gloghini, A. et al. Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene rearrangements and in situ immunophenotyping in lymphoproliferative disorders. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 414, 223–230 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00822026

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00822026

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