Follicular Lymphoma FISH Probes

BCL6 alterations are among the most common genetic abnormalities in B-cell tumors, and can be found in 6-14% of FL. BCL6 is unique from other lymphoma oncogenes in that it participates in fusions not just with IG genes, but other non-IG partners (so far, 20 different fusion partners have been reported).

BCL2/IGH fusion is found in nearly 90% of FL patients, occurring in the bone marrow during VDJ recombination at the pre B cell stage. The alteration is typically the first oncogenic hit, and results in constitutive activation of the anti-apoptotic BCL2 protein.