Twenty cases of Japanese non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with B cell markers were studied with respect to their immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) chain gene loci on chromosome 14 and BCL2 loci on chromosome 18.
This study was planned with the aim to investigate the association between bcl-2 gene rearrangements and apoptotic changes during chemotherapy in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Twenty-nine cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of low-grade malignancy in a European population were investigated for the presence of bcl-2 and bcl-1 gene rearrangement.
Antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide down-regulation of bcl-2 gene expression inhibits growth of the low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell line WSU-FSCCL.
Multiplex PCR for the detection of BCL-1/IGH and BCL-2/IGH gene rearrangements--clinical validation in a prospective study of blood and bone marrow in 258 patients with or suspected of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Interestingly these fragile sites were located in the same chromosomal bands as the oncogenes, MOS, MYC, BCL-1 and BCL-2 as well as cancer breakpoints specifically associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, suggesting the possibility that fragile sites may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The cumulative poor effect of both p53 and bcl-2 in large B-cell lymphomas, which is more significant in nodal tumours, could confirm the existence of a multistep genetic deregulation in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Other studies have suggested an inverse relationship between p53 and bcl-2 protein expression in breast and colonic cancers and in a variety of subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In addition, two other genes, BCL6 and BCL2, which are classically related to apoptosis and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, were shown for the first time to be involved in amplification.
In order to clarify the effects of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection on apoptosis and proliferative activity of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 135 Japanese lymphoma cases were investigated for the presence of viral RNA and its correlation with bcl-2 protein (Bcl-2) expression.
These results indicate an IGL-mediated rearrangement of an unknown gene at 9q34 that together with BCL2 and MYC might be involved in the lymphomagenesis of the present case of FCCL and perhaps in other cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which t(9;22) is sporadically occurring.
Prognostic significance of BCL-2 expression and bcl-2 major breakpoint region rearrangement in diffuse large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a British National Lymphoma Investigation Study.
The t(14;18)(q32;q21) translocation, involving the BCL2 gene and junctional segments (JH) of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IGH), constitutes the most common chromosomal translocation in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of B-cell type.
Translocations and amplification of the BCL2 gene are detected in interphase nuclei of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by in situ hybridization with yeast artificial chromosome clones.