Specimen Collection
Note:
All samples should be forwarded to LabPlus at room temperature within 24hours.
4 mL CPD Blood (Preferred)
2 mL CPD Bone Marrow (Preferred)
4 mL EDTA Blood
2 mL EDTA Bone Marrow
Paraffin block Tissue10x unstained slides of Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Tissue (FFPET) cut @ 10um + 1x targeted H&E slide
Turnaround Time: Within 2 weeks, 4 days
Reporting may be delayed in specific cases due to complexity. Please contact the lab for more information.
Diagnostic Use and Interpretation
This test is used to detect the presence of a monoclonal B cell population in a blood or tissue samples.
Note:
The consensus primers used for this test will not detect all Ig rearrangements and 10-15% of B-cell malignancies may be missed. Although accurate in the majority of cases, molecular data should never be used in isolation to establish a diagnosis. The clinical setting, morphological findings and other ancillary tests should always be used in the final interpretation.
See also:
T cell receptor gene rearrangement analysis
Contact Information
To contact the Molecular Haematology team please call:
For more information about the Molecular Haematology service at LabPLUS:
Molecular Haematology information page
Information on Immunoglobin Gene Rearrangement analysis:
The Ig gene contains many different variable(V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segments which are rearranged during early lymphoid differentiation. Each committed B-cell precursor undergoes a unique rearrangement of their Ig heavy (IgH) and light chains during maturation, resulting in a specific Ig molecule. This rearrangement involves somatic DNA deletions, template-independent nucleotide additions and specific splicing involving the variable(V), diversity (D), and joining (J) regions of both the IgH and IgL genes. As each cell has a unique rearrangement of its Ig genes, these can act as a marker for monoclonal cellular expansion in cases of lymphoproliferative disease. PCR analysis using consensus primers within the variable region (FR2a or FR3a) are used with a downstream consensus primer within the joining region (LJH and VLJH). DNA from a normal polyclonal population of B cells will give multiple PCR bands which will look like a smear on an agarose gel and a monoclonal population will give a distinct band indicating just one rearrangement.
References:
Theriault C et al Modern Pathology 2000; 13(12): 1269-1279
Traunor KJ et al Blood 1991; 78(1):192-196