Variable rate of detection of immunoglobulin heavy chain V-D-J rearrangement by PCR: a systematic study of 41 B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and leukemias.

The use of clonospecific probes has recently been employed for the detection of minimal residual disease in B- and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias. However, these methods are predicated upon the successful amplification of the V-D-J rearrangement in the genome of the tumor cells by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In order to determine whether the type of B-cell lymphoid malignancy influenced the rate of success of amplifying the region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement in these lesions, we studied 41 morphologically and immunologically well characterized B-cell neoplasms. DNA was extracted from frozen tissue of the lymphomas and leukemias, and subjected to PCR amplification using a 5' immunoglobulin heavy chain gene variable region consensus Framework 3 region (FR3) primer, and a 3' consensus primer for the immunoglobulin heavy chain joining region. One or two distinct bands, representing the rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain gene, were detected in six of six small non-cleaved cell lymphomas, five of five small lymphocytic lymphomas, four of six acute lymphoblastic leukemias, four of six follicular lymphomas, three of six diffuse mixed small and large cell lymphomas, one of six diffuse large cell lymphomas, and one of six immunoblastic large cell lymphomas; all control cases of lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's disease (5/5) and reactive follicular hyperplasia (5/5) were negative. We therefore conclude that the type of B-cell neoplasm influences the ability to detect immunoglobulin gene rearrangements by PCR with currently used consensus primers.