N. Nasrin et al., APPARENT ABSENCE OF BCL-2 REARRANGEMENT IN 10 SAUDI FOLLICULAR LYMPHOMAS - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT, Annals of saudi medicine, 14(3), 1994, pp. 219-224
Specific chromosomal translocations are often found to be associated w
ith distinct types of human neoplasms. The t(14;18) is considered to b
e a cytogenetic hallmark of the follicular lymphomas found mostly in A
merican patients. This chromosomal translocation occurs through a 3' u
ntranslated region (either major breakpoint region [mbr] or minor clus
ter region [mcr]) of the bcl-2 proto-oncogene in chromosome 18 and the
J(H) region of the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene in chromosome 14. In the
present study, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect
a fusion DNA fragment generated from bcl-2/J(H) rearrangement either t
hrough mbr or mcr in 10 follicular lymphomas in Saudi Arab patients. S
urprisingly, none of these cases showed any evidence of bcl-2 gene rea
rrangement through mbr or mcr. The absence of usual bcl-2/J(H) recombi
nation in Saudi follicular lymphomas is intriguing and may suggest tha
t the occurrence and mode of bcl-2 gene rearrangement in this lymphoma
varies in different patient populations.