Volume 2, Issue 2, July 2007
Dr. CHEUK Wah
BSc(Hons), MBBS, FHKCPath, FRCPA, Associate Consultant, Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Overview of conventional molecular techniques in lymphomas
The use of molecular techniques in hematolymphoid pathology started with cloning of the immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genes. [1] This is followed by the cloning of a number of translocation breakpoints in some common lymphoma types.[2-4] Assay of chromosomal breakpoints not only helps in confirming a clonal proliferation but also prov ides an indication of the type of lymphoma. The main application is to establish clonality or lineage of a lymphoid proliferation.
Southern blot analysis was the standard technique in molecular studies. The advent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provides an...