Correlation of chromosome abnormalities with histologic and immunologic characteristics in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and adult T cell leukemia- lymphoma. Fifth International Workshop on Chromosomes in Leukemia- Lymphoma

Abstract

Abstract To correlate cytogenetic findings with histology and immunophenotype, 260 newly diagnosed patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and 31 with adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) were studied at the Fifth International Workshop on Chromosomes in Leukemia-Lymphoma. Clonal chromosome abnormalities were found in 85% of cases of NHL and in all cases of ATL. The most significant associations of histology with cytogenetics involved the 8q24 and 14;18 translocations. Of 23 NHL patients with an 8q24 translocation, 20 (87%) had small noncleaved cell (SNC) lymphoma. Of 57 NHL patients with a t(14;18)(q32;q21), 37 (65%) had a follicular lymphoma, and at least 13 others (23%) had a diffuse lymphoma of follicular center cell origin. Five others including two who also had an 8q24 translocation had SNC lymphoma; tumors in these patients lacked the monomorphic features seen in those with only an 8q24 translocation. The most striking associations of immunology with cytogenetics involved rearrangements of 14q11–13, abnormalities of 1p, trisomy 3, and trisomy 12. Abnormalities of 14q11–13 were correlated with T cell disease. Among 138 NHL and 24 ATL cases that lacked involvement of 8q24, t(14;18), or rearrangements of 14q11–13, abnormalities of 1p and trisomy 3 were significantly associated with the T cell phenotype (P less than .01) and trisomy 12 with the B cell phenotype (P less than .01). No karyotype difference was found between Japanese ATL and non-Japanese T cell lymphomas except that +3 occurred more often in the former (P = .06). Although the 8q24 translocations in 23 patients were distributed relatively equally among geographic regions (United States, ten; Europe, ten; Japan, three), the t(14;18) in 57 patients was much less frequently seen in Japan than in the other parts of the world (United States, 31; Europe, 21; Australia, four; Japan, one). Thirty-nine chromosome bands had breaks in five or more cases; a number of protooncogenes and genes related to lymphocyte function located in these bands are likely to be involved in the development of lymphoma. Thus, besides confirming the close association of particular chromosome abnormalities with histology, we have identified a number of new associations that merit molecular analysis.