Correlation of secondary cytogenetic abnormalities with histologic appearance in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas bearing t(14;18)(q32;q21).
Successful cytogenetic studies were performed on 69 biopsies from 64 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma bearing a t(14;18)(q32;q21) translocation. This translocation appears to be a primary abnormality associated with the development of certain B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. We correlated the occurrence of secondary abnormalities, in addition to the t(14;18)(q32;q21), with histologic subtype to test the hypothesis that secondary abnormalities correlate with more aggressive histologic appearance. A large number of secondary abnormalities were identified, the most frequent being additional copies of chromosomes 7 (30%), 12 (22%), 18 (22%), 20 (16%), or 21 (14%), deletion of a portion of the long arm of chromosome 6 (17%), and either an additional chromosome 17 or an isochromosome for the long arm of chromosome 17 (13%). An extra chromosome 7 was highly associated with a diffuse histologic pattern; it was present in 52% of patients with a diffuse pattern and in only 15% of those with a follicular pattern (P = .002). A weaker association with a diffuse growth pattern was found for the addition of chromosome 17 or an i(17q); it was found in 24% of patients with a diffuse pattern and only 5% of those with a follicular pattern (P = .05). No other significant correlations between secondary chromosome abnormalities and histologic subtype were identified. Although the explanation for this association is not clear, it appears that patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas bearing the t(14;18)(q32;q21) translocation which also have an additional chromosome 7 are likely to exhibit a diffuse growth pattern.
Armitage
J O
JO
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68105.
Sanger
W G
WG
Weisenburger
D D
DD
Harrington
D S
DS
Linder
J
J
Bierman
P J
PJ
Vose
J M
JM
Purtilo
D T
DT
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D014178:Translocation, Genetic