Polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of t(14;18) from paraffin-embedded tissues fixed with Holland Bouin fluid

The t(14;18) translocation and its molecular counterpart, the bcl-2/IgH gene rearrangement, are highly characteristic of follicular non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The identification of the tumor-specific t(14;18) clone is mandatory for any molecular studies on residual disease because of the existence of circulating t(14;18)-bearing benign cells. In this study, the ability to specifically polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplify t(14;18) with DNA purified from tissues fixed with Holland Bouin fluid is demonstrated. The specificity of the PCR product was confirmed by internal probe hybridization and with comparison of the nucleotidic sequences of this PCR product with those obtained from the corresponding frozen material. Although the sensitivity of the technique is 50% to 60%, paraffin-embedded tissues fixed with bouin fluid may be a good alternative to frozen tissues to detect t(14;18) in tumors.