lymphoma predominance Hodgkin's lymphoma but not in classical Hodgkin's Frequent occurrence of BCL6 rearrangements in nodular lymphocyte

AbstractWe studied the genomic status of BCL6 in 23 cases of nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NLPHL) and 40 cases of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL) using dual color interphase-FISH. The BCL6 rearrangement was identified in 48% of NLPHL cases and not detected in cHL cases. As a confirmation, sequential or simultaneous IHC/FISH using CD20 or BCL6 antibodies and BCL6 DNA probes was performed in 8 NLPHL cases. The BCL6–associated translocations, t(3;22)(q27;q11), t(3;7)(q27;p12), and the most probable t(3;9)(q27;p13) were identified in 3 cases. A consistent expression of BCL6 protein in popcorn cells with the highest number of intensely stained cells in cases with a genomic BCL6 rearrangement was shown by immunohistochemistry. In summary, presented findings support the hypothesis of germinal center B cell derived-origin of NLPHL, indicate a significant role of BCL6 in pathogenesis of NLPHL, and provide further evidence of the genetic diversity underlying pathogenesis of NLPHL and cHL. e-mail: Anne.Hagemeijer @med.kuleuven.ac.beFrom bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org by guest on May 30, 2013. For personal use only.