Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement and antigenic profile confirm B cell origin of primary cerebral lymphoma and indicate a mature phenotype.

Six cases of primary cerebral lymphoma were immunophenotyped and analysed by Southern blotting to determine the clonality and lineage of these neoplasms. Molecular analysis showed that they were of B cell origin, and the rearrangement of both heavy and light chain immunoglobulins in malignant cells showed that they were monoclonal populations of mature B cells. The characterisation of the genetic configuration of the immunoglobulin genes in these lymphomas is important because the ability to distinguish between primary lymphoma of the central nervous system and other malignant cerebral tumours has important implications for treatment and survival.