The IGH product consists of a 176kb probe, labelled in red, covering the Constant region of the gene and a green probe, covering a 617kb region within the Variable segment of the gene.
Rearrangements involving the IGH gene have been identified in numerous different tumour types. There are a number of stereotypical translocations involved in each of the diseases and more are being described regularly.
The t(8;14)(q24;q32), involving IGH and the MYC gene, is the most common rearrangement in Burkitt's lymphoma and occurs in around 85% of cases1. IGH rearrangements have also been noted in 50% of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas (NHLs) and have been correlated to clinically relevant subgroups2. One study showed that the t(14;18)(q32;q21) (IGH-BCL2) was found in 88.1% of follicular lymphomas and the t(11;14)(q13;q32) (IGH-CCND1) in 85.7% of mantle cell lymphomas2. IGH rearrangements were also identified in 52.5% of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL)1.
IGH is commonly rearranged in lymphomas and has many different translocation partners. We have, therefore, designed a split probe set for IGH, which allows the detection of rearrangements of the IGH gene, regardless of partner gene or chromosome involved.
It was very important for us to have more consistent results with our probes — easy-to-read bright signals and a range of vial sizes, which is much more cost-effective. It also was critical to upgrade our pretreatment kit to expedite the analysis of FFPE samples. We can now complete the process in about 90 minutes.
Janet Cowan, PhD
Director of the Cytogenetics Laboratory, Tufts Medical Center, USA