Voorhees Peter M, Carder Kathryn A, Smith Scott V, Ayscue Lanier H, Rao Kathleen W, Dunphy Cherie H
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7525, USA.
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2004 Feb;128(2):210-3. doi: 10.5858/2004-128-210-FLWABT.
Follicular lymphoma is an indolent lymphoma characterized by the (14;18) translocation, which leads to aberrant expression of Bcl-2. Translocations involving 8q24 are most commonly associated with Burkitt lymphoma and result in c-Myc overexpression. We report a case of follicular lymphoma of predominant small cleaved-cell type (grade 1) associated with both a t(14;18)(q32;q21) and a t(8;22)(q24;q11). The 8q24 translocation predicted an aggressive clinical course, as the lymphoma transformed into acute lymphoblastic leukemia within a year of initial diagnosis. Routine cytogenetic analysis is recommended at initial diagnosis of follicular lymphoma to better identify abnormalities that may predict prognosis and influence therapy.
