MYC rearrangement is a recurring genetic abnormality in several aggressive B-cell lymphomas including: Burkitt lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; B-cell lymphoma, unclassifiable with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma; rare de novo acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia, transformed follicular lymphoma, and plasmablastic lymphoma.
It is unusual to find both t(14;18) and C-MYC translocation in the same tumour; those cases in which it has been described include examples of high-grade B-cell NHL (either de novo or transformed FL) or B-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma.
We have characterized a chromosomal translocation in a cell line (SU-DUL5) established from a patient with lymphoblastic lymphoma in which the c-myc gene on chromosome 8 was juxtaposed to a t(14;18).