Chromosome abnormalities in malignant lymphoma in patients from Kurashiki: histological and immunophenotypic correlations

Abstract

Clonal chromosomal abnormalities were found in tumor tissue of 43 (84%) of 51 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-cell, 32; T-cell, 15) from an adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma-nonendemic area in western mainland Japan. Four tumors were tetraploid, and the other 39 had a chromosome number in the diploid range. Trisomies 3, 5, 7, 18, and X, monosomy 13, and loss of an X in female and a Y in male were found in more than three patients each. Structural abnormalities in arms 1p, 1q, 2q, 3q, 13q, 14q, and 18q were found in eight or more patients each. Clustering of breaks occurred in 3q25-29 (ten patients, nine of whom with a B-cell tumor), 11q13 (five patients), dir dup(12)(q13-15----q21-24) (four patients), 14q32 (12 patients), and 18q21 (seven patients). The 14q32 translocations were all associated with B-cell tumors. t(8;14) was seen in a small noncleaved cell lymphoma, t(11;14)(q13;q32) in one follicular and three intermediately differentiated lymphocytic lymphomas, and t(14;18)(q32;q21) in two follicular lymphomas and one diffuse small cleaved cell tumor. The translocation partner of 14q could not be determined in the other four patients, three of whom had der(18)t(18;?)(q21;?). The seven 18q21 abnormalities, including a novel translocation t(2;18)(p11;q21.3), all occurred in B-cell tumors; even in the absence of t(14;18), they were closely associated with lymphomas of follicular center cell origin (six of seven).