MOLECULAR EVIDENCE LINKS LYMPHOMATOUS POLYPOSIS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL-TRACT WITH MANTLE CELL LYMPHOMA

Lymphomatous polyposis (LP) is a subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma man ifested by numerous polyps affecting long segments of the gastrointest inal tract. The malignant cells of LP often share morphological and im munophenotypic similarity with cells of nodal-based mantle cell lympho ma. Recent genetic studies have shown that mantle cell lymphomas frequ ently possess a characteristic translocation of the JH/bcl-1 loci. In this study, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot analysis were used to show the presence of JH/bcl-1 translocation in a typical case of LP of the gastrointestinal tract, This provides strong molecu lar evidence for a biologic link between LP and mantle cell lymphoma. The findings also imply that detection of this translocation may be us eful in the diagnosis of morphologically equivocal gastrointestinal bi opsy specimens. HUM PATHOL 26:1282-1285. This is a US government work. There are no restrictions on its use.