Transformation of follicular lymphoma to Burkitt-like lymphoma within a single lymph node

Mukhopadhyay, Sanjay; Readling, Joseph; Cotter, Philip D.; Shrimpton, Anthony E.; Sidhu, Jagmohan S.

doi:10.1016/j.humpath.2005.01.004

« Previous Next »Human Pathology
Volume 36, Issue 5 , Pages 571-575, May 2005

Transformation of follicular lymphoma to Burkitt-like lymphoma within a single lymph node

Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, MD
- Department of Pathology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
- Corresponding author. Department of Pathology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Joseph Readling, MD
- Department of Hematology-Oncology, United Health Services Hospitals, Johnson City, NY 13210, USA
Philip D. Cotter, PhD, FACMG
- Advanced Molecular Diagnostics, Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, US Laboratories, Irvine, CA 92612, USA
- Dr Cotter is currently at the University of California, San Francisco, Calif.
Anthony E. Shrimpton, PhD
- Department of Pathology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Jagmohan S. Sidhu, MD
- Department of Pathology, Wilson Memorial Regional Medical Center, Johnson City, NY 13210, USA

Summary

Aberrant expression of bcl-2, caused by a t(14;18) translocation, is most commonly associated with follicular lymphoma. In a subset of these tumors, additional acquisition of a translocation involving c-myc leads to transformation to a high-grade lymphoma. We report a case of follicular lymphoma containing a t(14;18) translocation transforming into a Burkitt-like lymphoma containing the original t(14;18) as well as an additional t(8;14). The latter translocation resulted in the phenotype of Burkitt-like lymphoma, and the transformation from follicular lymphoma to Burkitt-like lymphoma was demonstrable within a single lymph node. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a case documenting direct transformation of follicular lymphoma into Burkitt-like lymphoma in the same lymph node. This case illustrates the dramatic oncogenic stimulus that results from the inhibition of apoptosis by bcl-2 combined with the deregulation of cell growth by c-myc.

Keywords: Burkitt-like lymphoma, Follicular lymphoma, bcl-2, c-myc, Transformation, Lymph node