Clonal heterogeneity of mantle cell lymphoma revealed by array comparative genomic hybridization

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) characterized by the translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32). This lymphoma exhibits a poor prognosis and remains incurable with standard chemotherapy approaches. Recently, we have shown that a majority of patients with acute-type adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) have multiple subclones that were likely produced in lymph nodes. We investigated whether MCL has multiple subclones as identified in ATLL by high-resolution oligo-array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Eleven of 20 (55%) evaluable MCL cases had a log2 ratio imbalance, suggesting the existence of multiple subclones in MCL. Based on the proportion of every subclone relative to the main clone, we were able to speculate clonal evolution in each MCL case with multiple subclones. Our analysis gave new insights into the clonal heterogeneity quantitatively and accurately. Furthermore, genomic copy number alterations are not hierarchical events and not necessarily the initial or later events for cells to become MCL.