[Detection of gene rearrangement in bone marrow of patients with non Hodgkin's lymphoma by BIOMED-2 protocols].

This study was purposed to explore the feasibility of BIOMED-2 protocols for detection of immunoglobin (IG) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene clonal rearrangement in bone marrow of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL) patients, and to evaluate its clinical value. Gene clonal rearrangment (IGH, IGK, IGL, TCRβ, TCRγ, TCRδ) was detected by using BIOMED-2 protocols in 73 bone marrow examples of NHL patients. The PCR results were compared with the cytomorphologic examination of bone marrow. The correlation between PCR detection results and clinical stage, pathological factors were also evaluated. The results showed that clonal IG or TCR gene rearrangements were found in 31 of 73 cases (42.5%), higher than the positive rate of cytological analysis (24.7%, 18/73, p < 0.05). IG/TCR clonality rates were 40.0% (22/55) for B-NHL and 50% (9/18) for T-NHL. IG/TCR clonality rates detected in patients with III/IV stage were higher than those with I/II stage (p < 0.05). It is concluded that BIOMED-2 protocols are effective methods for detection of abnormalities in bone marrow in patients with lymphoma, and are superior to cytomorphologic examination. The positive rate of PCR detection is correlated with Ann Arbor stage, but is not related with malignant degree, age, treatment status, B symptoms or the involvement of spleen.