ASSOCIATION OF ABNORMALITIES OF CHROMOSOME-11 WITH T(14-18) IN DIFFUSE NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA

Cytogenetic studies of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) have revealed a n onrandom translocation, t(14;18)(q32;q21), to be strongly correlated w ith follicular histology. In our recent study of 149 cases of NHL, 68 cases had a t(14;18). Forty-four of these were follicular and 24 diffu se. In the majority of cases (90%) there were additional chromosome ab normalities, which were analyzed to determine whether any were specifi cally associated with diffuse histology. Chromosome 11 abnormalities o ccurring together with the t(14;18) were found to be present in 17/68 cases; 14/17 (82%) were diffuse and 3/17 (18%1 were follicular NHL. Th us, 14/24 (58%) of all diffuse lymphomas with t(14;18) had an abnormal ity of chromesome 11 compared to only 3/44 (7%) of follicular lymphoma s, suggesting that the addition of an abnormality of chromosome 11 to a t(14;18) karyotype is associated with diffuse histology.