Age-Dependent Prevalence and Frequency of Circulating t(14;18)-Positive Cells in the Peripheral Blood of Healthy Individuals

摘要

Circulating t(14;18)-positive cells were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction on DNA isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) from 644 healthy individuals between 1 and 91 years of age. In all, 45% of all samples (287/644) were positive, and 40% of the positive samples (114/287) contained more than one positive clone. The prevalence of t(14;18)-positive cells showed a strong correlation with age. A total of 36 cord blood samples and 48 PBMNCs from children 10 years were negative. The prevalence of circulating positive cells increased from the second to fifth decade of life from 20% to 66% and remained stable thereafter. Also the median frequency of circulating t(14;18)-positive cells as well as the prevalence of multiple clones showed an increase with age. In all, 4% (24/644) of all blood samples contained 1 positive cell in 25 000 cells, a finding restricted to healthy individuals 40 years. These results are discussed in relation to the low incidence of follicular lymphoma.