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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
Immunoglobulin Gene Sequence Analysis In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: From Patient Material To Sequence Interpretation
Published on: November 26, 2018
Diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma by polymerase chain reaction
N Katai1, S Kuroiwa, K Fujimori
1Department of Ophthalmology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan. eyekata@gipac.shinshu-u.ac.jp
Insights
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) aids in diagnosing intraocular lymphoma by detecting monoclonal B lymphocyte proliferation. This molecular method improves upon traditional cytopathology for ocular lymphoma diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Cytopathology is used for intraocular lymphoma diagnosis but can miss malignant cells.
- Detecting malignant cells in biopsy specimens can be challenging.
Background:
Cytopathological examinations have been used in the diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma. However, sometimes it is not easy to detect malignant cells in the biopsy specimens. We applied a method that identified monoclonal proliferation of B lymphocytes by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis of patients suspected to have intraocular B-cell lymphoma.
Methods:
Three specimens of the diagnostic vitrectomy were studied by cytological examination and by PCR to amplify the complementary determining region (CDR3) of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene. As a positive control, a biopsy specimen of an orbital lymphoma was examined; four vitrectomy specimens from patients with diabetic retinopathy, proliferative vitreo-retinopathy, acute retinal necrosis (ARN) and macular hole were negative controls.
Results:
On cytologic examination, no malignant cells were found in three specimens: suspected intraocular lymphoma and one ARN. In contrast, a discrete band that reflected monoclonal proliferation of B lymphocytes was detected by PCR in specimens from two patients and the positive control. Vitrectomy specimens from the negative controls, including ARN, did not show a discrete band on PCR.
Conclusions:
Two cases of ocular malignant lymphoma were diagnosed by PCR identification of monoclonal proliferation of B lymphocytes. This method may be an additional diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of intraocular B-cell lymphoma.
