A GENOTYPIC STUDY OF LOW-GRADE B-CELL LYMPHOMAS, INCLUDING LYMPHOMAS OF MUCOSA ASSOCIATED LYMPHOID-TISSUE (MALT)

Genotypic analysis has led to the implication of certain oncogenes in the pathogenesis of specific groups of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rearrangements of c‐myc are associated with Burkitt's lymphoma and of bcl‐2 with centroblastic/centrocytic lymphoma. Rearrangement of bcl‐1 has yet to be associated with a specific group of lymphoma. In this study DNA from 62 cases of low grade B‐cell lymphoma, classified using the Kiel classification, were analysed by Southern blotting and hybridization with probes to bcl‐1, bcl‐2, and c‐myc. Rearrangements of bcl‐2 were found in a proportion of centroblastic/centrocytic lymphoma comparable to other published studies. Rearrangement of c‐myc was not found in any case studied. Bcl‐1 rearrangement was found in 2/9 cases of B‐CLL, and 3/6 cases of centrocytic lymphoma. This incidence of bcl‐1 rearrangement in centrocytic lymphoma suggests that it is a characteristic change. No rearrangement of bcl‐1, bcl‐2 or c‐myc was found in any case of lymphoma of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), providing further evidence that, in spite of having a similar morphology to some other groups of low grade B‐cell lymphoma, lymphomas of MALT comprise a distinct entity. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.