The t(11;14)(q13;q32) and its molecular counterpart, bcl1/JH, are character
istic of mantle-cell lymphomas (MCL). Molecular detection of the translocat
ion is useful in diagnosis and classification, and also shows promise in de
tecting minimal residual disease. The purpose of this study was to determin
e the frequency of detecting bcl1/JH by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) com
pared with Southern blot analysis in cases proven by cytogenetic analysis t
o harbor t(11;14). Southern blot analysis using two probes targeting the ma
jor translocation cluster (MTC) and a third probe targeting the p94 region
was performed, along with PCR using two different bell MTC primers, on is c
ases of MCL known to have t(11;14). Southern blot analysis revealed bell re
arrangement in 13 of 18 cases (72%), 12 with MTC breakpoints and 1 with a p
94 breakpoint. The 2.1-kb MTC probe "b" was superior to the smaller 700-bp
probe "a" in detecting these rearrangements. The MTC translocation was iden
tified by PCR in 10 of 12 cases, and both primer sets that were tested perf
ormed equally well. This study illustrates the frequency with which molecul
ar methods detect known t(11,14) translocations in MCLs. These results may
help clinical laboratory scientists optimize their procedure for detecting
bell translocations by molecular methods at initial diagnosis and for purpo
ses of detecting minimal residual disease.