Risk and clinical implications of transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Purpose: To study the clinical significance of transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL).

Patients And Methods: From 1972 to 1999, 325 patients were diagnosed with FL at St Bartholomew's Hospital (London, United Kingdom). With a median follow-up of 15 years, progression occurred in 186 patients and biopsy-proven transformation in 88 of the 325.

Transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma proceeds by distinct oncogenic mechanisms.

This study was undertaken to further elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying the frequent event of transformation of follicular lymphoma (FL) to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (t-FL). The gene expression profiles of 20 paired lymph node biopsies, derived from the same patient pre- and post-transformation, were analysed using the Lymphochip cDNA microarray. TP53 mutation analysis was performed and copy number alterations at the c-REL and CDNK2A examined.

Number of CD4+ cells and location of forkhead box protein P3-positive cells in diagnostic follicular lymphoma tissue microarrays correlates with outcome.

Purpose: To examine the immune microenvironment in diagnostic follicular lymphoma (FL) biopsies and evaluate its prognostic significance.

Patients And Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to study numbers and location of cells staining positive for immune cell markers CD4, CD7, CD8, CD25, CD68, forkhead box protein P3 (FOXP3), T-cell intracellular antigen-1, and Granzyme B in tissue microarrays of paraffin-embedded, diagnostic lymph node biopsies taken from 59 FL patients who lived less than 5 years (short-survival group; n = 34) and more than 15 years (long-survival group; n = 25).

Results: CD4 and FOXP3 expression were significantly different between the two groups.

Prediction of survival in follicular lymphoma based on molecular features of tumor-infiltrating immune cells.

Background: Patients with follicular lymphoma may survive for periods of less than 1 year to more than 20 years after diagnosis. We used gene-expression profiles of tumor-biopsy specimens obtained at diagnosis to develop a molecular predictor of the length of survival.

Methods: Gene-expression profiling was performed on 191 biopsy specimens obtained from patients with untreated follicular lymphoma.

Reliable detection of clonal IgH/Bcl2 MBR rearrangement in follicular lymphoma: methodology and clinical significance.

The prognostic significance of IgH/Bcl2 rearrangement in follicular lymphoma (FL) remains contentious; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodology and tissue source variability may account for some inconsistencies. As IgH/Bcl2 major breakpoint region (MBR) sequences may be found in normal blood, an MBR+ result by conventional PCR in blood/bone marrow may not indicate FL. To establish tumour MBR status, 190 lymphoid tissue samples with histologically evident FL (and therefore >1% tumour cells) were examined by real-time quantifiable PCR; 50% (95/190) had clonal MBR IgH/Bcl2 (MBR was considered clonal when >1%).

The relative role of peripheral blood and bone marrow for monitoring molecular evidence of disease in follicular lymphoma by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) are used interchangeably for t(14;18) (IgH/BCL-2) molecular monitoring in follicular lymphoma (FL) and detection of rearrangement after treatment has been correlated to increased risk of relapse. To determine the relative value of each tissue, MBR t(14;18) was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction in 52 simultaneous paired PB and BM samples from 38 FL patients. In total, 79% of sample pairs taken in remission (n = 19) or when no morphological disease was evident in the BM (n = 29) had t(14;18) copy number within one log difference and the median difference was small.

JH probe real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay for Bcl-2/IgH rearrangements.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) characteristically bears the t(14;18)(q32;q21). However, only approximately 75% of the consequent Bcl-2 breakpoints lie within the major breakpoint region (MBR) or the minor cluster region (mcr). While these can be quantified by cluster region-specific real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR), a significant proportion of cases are left requiring a customized approach.