B-CLL and bcl-2 gene

Most of human follicular lymphomas (approximately 90% in U.S.A. or approximately 30% in Japan) possess the t(14; 18) chromosome translocation that directly involves the IgH locus on chromosome 14 and the bcl-2 gene on chromosome 18. The t(14; 18) chromosome translocation occurs nearly exclusively at two hot spots, a major breakpoint clustering region (mbr) within the 2nd exon noncoding region and the minor breakpoint clustering region (mcr) within the 3' flanking region of the bcl-2 gene. Here we show that the rearrangement of the bcl-2 gene occurs in a significant fraction (approximately 10%) of B-CLL. All of the rearranged bcl-2 genes were juxtaposed with Ig lambda or Ig kappa genes, implying that the bcl-2 gene is preferentially linked to the IgL genes in CLL.