Detection Of Clonal Gene Rearrangement In Paraffin-Embedded Biopsy Tissues By PCR Assays From Cutaneous Pseudolymphoma

Objective To detect the clonal T-cell receptor beta (TCR-β) and Immunoglobulin heavey chain (IgH) gene rearrangements in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsy tissues by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) assays from cutaneous pseudolymphomas(CPL) and to prognose the prognosis of patients with cutaneous pseudolymphoma correlated with the clonal gene rearrangements results.Method 13 cases of cutaneous pseudolymphomas (formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsy tissues) were retrieved from the archives for detecting the genetic features of TCR-β and IgH gene rearrangements analysis by PCR assays, diagnosed using morphological and immunohistochemical criteria. 18 paraffin wax embedded primary cutaneous malignant lymphomas (PCML) samples were used as controls. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS 13.0 statistical software. Fisher's exact test of probabilities were used to test the difference between groups. A p-value of less than 0. 05 was considered statistically significant.Result Using TCR-β PCR, monoclonality was detected in 2(15.4%) of 13 CPL compared with 14(77.8%) of 18 PCML, while a polyclonal result was seen in 10(76. 9%) of 13 paraffin wax embedded biopsy samples of CPL, compared with 1(5.5%) of 18 PCML samples. None of the 13 CPL and 18 PCML samples were IgH PCR positive, 2(15.4%) of 13 CPL and 4(22.2%) of 18 PCML samples showed polyclonal pattern.Conclusion TCR-β and IgH PCR should be the method of choice for analysis of clonality in paraffin wax embedded biopsy tissues of CPL. For the clonic CPL transform to PCML easily, we should emphasize long term follow-up.