title: Detection of clonality in lymphoproliferations using PCR of the antigen receptor genes: does size matter?
abstract: A biopsy of a nasal mass that had morphologic and immunostaining features consistent with a B-cell lymphoma was studied for clonality using PCR of the IgH gene. An unexpectedly low molecular weight DNA fragment of approximately 140bp (acceptable size limit: 250-295bp) was obtained using FR2 and JH primers. The sequence of this DNA was consistent with a clonal IgH rearrangement followed by a deletion that removed most of the downstream portion of the V segment. Thus, the biopsy contained a monoclonal population of B-lymphocytes, consistent with a diagnosis of lymphoma. This work illustrates that bands outside of the size range expected from PCR of the antigen receptor genes may still be consistent with a monoclonal result.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Roberto L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Raymond E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Felgar
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Rothberg
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002999:Clone Cells; D015326:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; D050438:Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain; D006801:Humans; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA