Frequency of the Bcl-2/IgH rearrangement in normal individuals: Implications for the monitoring of disease in patients with follicular lymphoma

Purpose: To determine the incidence and frequency of the Bcl-2/IgH rearrang ement in the peripheral blood of normal individuals to define the potential complication this may pose far the molecular monitoring of disease in pati ents with follicular lymphoma (FL), Materials and Method: The incidence and frequency of the major breakpoint c luster region rearrangement in DNA extracted from peripheral blood or lymph oblastoid cell lines from 481 normal individuals was determined using a Taq Man real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (PE Applied Biosystems, Foste r City, CA). Results: Twenty three percent of samples were positive for the Bcl-2/IgH re arrangement, with approximately 3% of these at levels of more than 1 in 10( 4) cells. Conclusion: The presence of circulating Bcl-2/IgH(+) cells, other than thos e derived from the malignant clone, could confound the detection and quanti tation of minimal residual disease in patients with FL, particularly at low levels of tumor burden, J Clin Oncol 19:420-424. (C) 2001 by American Soci ety of Clinical Oncology.