Clonality of benign lymphoid hyperplasia in orbit and conjunctiva

In order to thoroughly characterize the clonal population of lymphoid hyperplasia of the orbit and conjunctiva, we investigated six cases which were histologically proven to be benign lymphoid hyperplasia. We analyzed the clonal rearrangements of the antigen receptors and bcl-2 gene, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-I) by Southern blot and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and performed in situ hybridization for mRNA of kappa and lambda immunoglobulin. Five cases showed rearrangements of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (JH) and/or light chain gene (J kappa), and the monoclonal V-J recombination of JH in PCR. However, the rearranged bands were much more faint than was the germ-line band. We considered the monoclonal population of B cells small. Two of the five cases recurred locally after four and nine years respectively. Because benign lymphoid hyperplasias frequently contain an occult monoclonal B-cell population, a follow-up should be conducted. The remaining case in our investigation showed a rearrangement of the T-cell-receptor gene and proviral DNA of HTLV-I, and it showed rapid progress to adult T-cell leukemia after the biopsy. EBV and bcl-2 gene rearrangements were not observed in any of the six cases we studied.