Deviated VH4 immunoglobulin gene usage is found among thyroid mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas, similar to the usage at other sites, but is not found in thyroid diffuse large B-cell lymphomas

摘要

It remains unclear whether or not diffuse large B-cell lymphomas of extranodal sites arise from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. We studied the clinicopathological features of MALT lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the thyroid gland, with special reference to VH usage of immunoglobulin gene rearrangement, to clarify the relationships between these two types of lymphomas. In addition, t(11; 18) (q21; q21) translocation was examined by multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. We examined 58 patients with primary thyroid lymphoma: 31 (male seven and female 24) with MALT lymphoma and 27 (male three and female 24) with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Interestingly, the sequence of VH genes revealed that the two subtypes differed significantly in their use of the VH4 family (Pde novo origin. No t(11; 18) (q21; q21) was detected in thyroid lymphomas, which are different from MALT lymphoma of the stomach, lungs, large intestine and ocular adnexa. This strongly indicated that the presence of t(11; 18) (q21; q21) in MALT lymphoma is organ-specific.