[PCR analysis of DNA in paraffin sections of malignant lymphomas]

The polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the clonal rearrangement of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene in paraffin embedded samples of human lymph nodes. We developed a sensitive and reliable method of the DNA isolation from 4-5 tissue sections, which enabled us to perform 50-100 PCR reactions. We compared the reactive lymph nodes and non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas using framework 3 and J region primers. PCR products were examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. The dominant 80-120 bp amplification product was found in all lymphoma samples. The samples of reactive nodes were negative.