Translocations involving band 3q27 and Ig gene regions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

We report a series of 20 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) in which cytogenetic analysis showed a translocation involving band 3q27 and the site of one of the three Ig genes (14q32, 2p12, 22q11) in the neoplastic cells. These cases were found in a series of 319 patients with clonal chromosomal abnormalities studied over a 7-year period. Fourteen patients had diffuse lymphoma, mainly of large cell type and the remaining six were follicular lymphomas. All cases studied were of B-cell phenotype. A t(3;14)(q27;q32) was commonest, found in 15 patients (4.7%), with the two variant translocations, t(3;22)(q27;q11) and t(2;3)(p12;q27), being found in three and two patients, respectively. Additional chromosomal defects were present in most patients, but two patients had this type of translocation as the sole abnormality. These results indicate that translocations involving band 3q27 and Ig genes are not uncommon, and suggest that a novel oncogene, located at band 3q27, may be implicated in B-cell NHL.