title: Expression of high amounts of the CD117 molecule in a case of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma carrying the t(14:18) translocation.
abstract: The c-kit proto-oncogen (CD117) has been described to be present in normal and neoplastic hemopoietic cells including both myeloid and lymphoid lineages. Among the normal lymphoid cells CD117 expression would be restricted to a small subset of NK-cells, and to early T-cell precursors and it is not expressed by normal B-cells. Regarding chronic lymphoproliferative disorders the only data provided up to now suggests that CD117 expression is restricted to cases of Hodgkin's disease and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. In the present paper we describe a case of a B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorder carrying the t(14:18) translocation as demonstrated by molecular studies, in which the flow cytometric immunophenotypic analysis of both peripheral blood and bone marrow samples revealed the expression of high amounts of the CD117 antigen in the surface of the clonal B-cell population. Further studies are necessary to explore both the functional role of c-kit expression in the neoplastic B-cells from this patient and its potential utility for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: Servicios de Hematología, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Agustín
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cámara
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Fuertes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orfao
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Escribano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001773:Blood Cells; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D019254:Genes, bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit