A genotypic study of low grade B-cell lymphomas, including lymphomas of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT).

Genotypic analysis has led to the implication of certain oncogenes in the pathogenesis of specific groups of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rearrangements of c-myc are associated with Burkitt's lymphoma and of bcl-2 with centroblastic/centrocytic lymphoma. Rearrangement of bcl-1 has yet to be associated with a specific group of lymphoma. In this study DNA from 62 cases of low grade B-cell lymphoma, classified using the Kiel classification, were analysed by Southern blotting and hybridization with probes to bcl-1, bcl-2, and c-myc. Rearrangements of bcl-2 were found in a proportion of centroblastic/centrocytic lymphoma comparable to other published studies. Rearrangement of c-myc was not found in any case studied. Bcl-1 rearrangement was found in 2/9 cases of B-CLL, and 3/6 cases of centrocytic lymphoma. This incidence of bcl-1 rearrangement in centrocytic lymphoma suggests that it is a characteristic change. No rearrangement of bcl-1, bcl-2 or c-myc was found in any case of lymphoma of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), providing further evidence that, in spite of having a similar morphology to some other groups of low grade B-cell lymphoma, lymphomas of MALT comprise a distinct entity.