Our results showed that BIOMED-2 IGK assays are significantly more sensitive than IGH assays in follicular lymphoma due to the fact that the rearranged IGKV is less frequently targeted by somatic hypermutation than IGHV, and therefore, are essential in routine clonality analysis of these lymphomas.
In conclusion, the present series demonstrates biased usage of IGKV genes in FL and alludes to the important role of immunoglobulin kappa light chains in antigen selection of the clonogenic B cells in FL.