MYC/BCL2 double hit lymphoma (DHL) is a rare, recently recognised and highly aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with an affinity to involve the central nervous system and the head and neck either at initial presentation or during relapse.
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.
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.
Ongoing clinical trials are exploring the role of Bcl-2 downregulation with oblimersen (Bcl-2 antisense) in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma.
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.
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.
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 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.
Antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide down-regulation of bcl-2 gene expression inhibits growth of the low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell line WSU-FSCCL.