Blastoid variants of mantle cell lymphoma: frequent bcl-1 rearrangements at the major translocation cluster region and tetraploid chromosome clones.

Sixty-four cases of mantle cell (centrocytic) non-Hodgkin's lymphomas have been analyzed for their cytomorphologic features, proliferation indices, bcl-1 rearrangements, p53 expression patterns, and DNA content by both interphase cytogenetic and DNA flow cytometric analyses. According to cytomorphology, three subtypes were recognized: a common, a lymphoblastoid, and a pleomorphic variant of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Blastoid MCL subtypes were characterized by distinctly elevated mitotic counts (57 and 51/10 HPF v 21/10 high-power fields in common MCL), proliferation indices (58% and 53% v 27% in common types, respectively; P < .001), frequent bcl-1 rearrangements at the major translocation cluster locus (59% v 40%), and overexpression of p53 (21% v 6%). However, the most interesting finding was a striking tendency of blastoid MCL subtypes to harbor chromosome numbers in the tetraploid range (36% of lymphoblastoid and 80% of pleomorphic types v 8% of common variants, P < .001), a feature clearly separating these neoplasms from other types of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and possibly being related to cyclin D1 overexpression. Our data indicate that, although characterized by a uniform immunophenotype and common biologic background, MCL shows a broad spectrum of morphologic features ranging from small cell to blastoid types and that the morphologic spectrum is mirrored by distinct biologic features.