All Patients with Persistent Polyclonal B Cell Lymphocytosis Present Bcl-2/Ig Gene Rearrangements
- 1 January 1998
- journal article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in Leukemia & Lymphoma
- Vol. 31 (5-6), 567-574
- https://doi.org/10.3109/10428199809057616
Abstract
The bcl-2 gene belongs to a class of oncogenes involved in the inhibition of apoptosis. Most follicular lymphomas are associated with the t(14;18) translocation that juxtaposes the bcl-2 gene located on chromosome 18 to the immunoglobulin gene locus located on chromosome 14. Consequently, the bcl-2 gene is overly expressed and leads to an accumulation of mature clonal B cells. Prolonged survival of the B cell clone appears to be the early event in tumorigenesis, creating an increased risk of cumulative mutations. Interestingly, bcl-2/Ig gene rearrangements may be identified in nearly 50% of normal individuals but the outcome of normal individuals carrying high levels of t(14;18) is not well defined. Persistent polyclonal B cell lymphocytosis (PPBL) is a unique polyclonal lymphoproliferative disorder mostly restricted to women. We have recently demonstrated that PPBL is also associated with multiple bcl-2/Ig gene rearrangements. In this report, we have extended our analysis to additional patients and demonstrated that all patients presented multiple detectable t(14;18) translocated clones. In addition, Bcl-2 protein expression was increased. Our findings, along with the clinical features of PPBL, make this disorder an exceptional model for the study of B-cell homeostasis.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Occurrence of bcl-2 Oncogene Translocation With Increased Frequency in the Peripheral Blood of Heavy SmokersJNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1995
- BCL2 translocation frequency rises with age in humans.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1994
- Bcl-2 initiates a new category of oncogenes: regulators of cell deathBlood, 1992
- Molecular themes in oncogenesisCell, 1991
- Expansion of B Lymphocytes with an Unusual Immunoglobulin Rearrangement Associated with Atypical Lymphocytosis and Cigarette SmokingAmerican Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 1990
- Cloning and structural analysis of cDNAs for bcl-2 and a hybrid bcl-2/immunoglobulin transcript resulting from the t(14;18) translocationCell, 1986
- Cloning the chromosomal breakpoint of t(14;18) human lymphomas: clustering around Jh on chromosome 14 and near a transcriptional unit on 18Cell, 1985
- PERSISTENT POLYCLONAL LYMPHOCYTOSIS OF B LYMPHOCYTES, INDUCED BY CIGARETTE SMOKING?The Lancet, 1985
- The Natural History of Initially Untreated Low-Grade Non-Hodgkin's LymphomasNew England Journal of Medicine, 1984
- Persistent Polyclonal Lymphocytosis of B LymphocytesNew England Journal of Medicine, 1982