The IGH/BCL2 product consists of probes, labelled in green, covering the Constant, J, D and Variable segments of the IGH gene, and a 585kb probe, labelled in red, covering the BCL2 and KDSR genes.
The t(14;18)(q32;q21) translocation involving the IGH (immunoglobulin heavy locus) gene at 14q32.33 and the BCL2 (BCL2 apoptosis regulator) gene at 18q21.33 is a recognised recurrent abnormality seen in B-cell malignancies.
IGH-BCL2 rearrangements are observed in 70-95% of follicular lymphoma (FL) cases and 20-30% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)1. Presence of the t(14;18) translocation in DLBCL is a predictor of outcome and has a poor prognostic effect2. BCL2 translocations have also been implicated in chronic B-cell lymphoproliferative disease (CLPD) and also occur occasionally in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)3.
Running our PETS protocol was taking upwards of 5 hours to complete based on the previous SOP. After the technical training visit from CytoCell, we were able to make some tweaks to reduce the protocol time down to just 1 hour and 15 minutes, with the same or better results.
Michelle Casey
Assistant Genetic Technologist, Leicestershire Genetics Centre, UK
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