Objective: To detect the immunoglobulin(Ig) and T cell receptor(TCR) gene rearrangement in bone marrow of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL) patients by using BIOMED-2 standardized system, and to explore the potential clinical significance of Ig/TCR gene rearrangement.
Methods: DNA was extracted in bone marrow and Formalin-fixed and Paraffin-embedded(FFPE) samples of NHL patients, the Ig/TCR gene rearrangements were analyzed by using BIOMED-2 multiple primers system and multiplex PCR assay.
Results: Among 235 T-NHL cases, 71.9% showed TCR gene rearrangement. The positive rate of TCRγ and the TCRβ were 57.9% and 50.2%. Out of 583 B-NHL cases, 81.6% showed Ig gene rearrangement. The positive rate of IgH and the IgK were 70.7% and 69.3%. MCL patients showed 84.8% IgH rearrangement and 75.8% IgK rearrangement, as compared with FL(34.0%, 50.9%) and DLBCL(9.2%, 16.1%) patients, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Out of Ig rearrangement positive B-NHL cases, 65 showed TCR gene rearrangement. None TCR rearrangement positive T-NHL cases showed Ig gene rearrangement, 25 cases(83.3%) showed Ig gene rearrangement in FFPE samples of 30 DLBCL patients, as compared to Ig rearrangement positive rate of bone marrow, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001).
Conclusion: BIOMED-2 standardized Ig/TCR gene rearrangement system shows assistance for lymphoma diagnosis. The PCR sequencing analysis is much more sensitive and specific and has significance for clinical diagnosis.