Rearrangement of bcl‐2 Is Detectable in Hodgkin's Disease by Polymerase Chain Reaction

The authors examined the occurrence of the t(14;18) chromosomal translocation in 44 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) using the polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot hybridization with non‐radioactive oligonucleotide probes. DNAs were extracted from unfixed, fresh‐frozen and formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded biopsy specimens. Southern blot hybridization of the amplification product showed that, of 44 HD DNAs, three had a detectable t(14;18) breakpoint at the mbr (major breakpoint region), while none had a detectable t(14;18) breakpoint at the mcr (minor cluster region). Of the three cases positive for a t(14;18) breakpoint at the mbr, two were of lymphocyte predominance type, and the other was of mixed cellularity type.