CLONAL ANALYSIS OF 3 MORPHOLOGICALLY DISTINCT LYMPHOMAS OCCURRING IN THE SAME PATIENT

Aims-To determine whether three morphologically distinct lymphomas (mu cosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, monocytoid B cell lym phoma, and large cell anaplastic lymphoma), which occurred in the same patient, were in fact three morphological variants of the same lympho proliferative process. Methods-Previously described methods of clonal analysis using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to determ ine the pattern of rearrangements of the immunoglobulin heavy chain ge ne and the T cell receptor beta and T cell receptor gamma chain genes in the three lymphomas. Results-All three morphological entities had i dentical patterns of gene rearrangements. Conclusions-This finding con firms the association between MALT lymphoma and monocytoid B cell lymp homa, and also provides evidence that large cell anaplastic lymphoma m ay not only arise de novo but may also be an end stage morphological p icture in lymphoma progression.