OBJECTIVETo study the cytogenetic characteristics of B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) with bone marrow involvement, and to explore the clinical significance and prognosis.

METHODSClinical data of 126 B-NHL patients with bone marrow involvement diagnosed in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Chromosome banding analysis was performed after 24 h culture.

RESULTS(1) The B-NHLs included were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) 38.9% (49 cases), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) 19% (24 cases), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) 16.7% (21 cases), follicular lymphoma (FL) 9.5% (12 cases), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) 8.7% (11 cases) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) 7.1%(9 cases). (2) Chromosome aberrations (CA) were detected in 52 of 126 patients (41.3%) by conventional cytogenetics (CC), including clonal CA 38 cases, and non-clonal CA 14 cases. Ploidy levels in 38 clonal CA cases were pseudodiploid (57.9%), hypodiploid (15.8%) and hyperdiploid (26.3%). The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities among DLBCL, MCL, MZL, LPL, FL and SLL was 73.4%, 38.1%, 36.4%, 8.3%, 8.3% and 11.1%, respectively. (3) Clonal CA, CA more than two kinds, and CA of chromosomes 2, 3, 9, 11, 17, 18 and 20 were associated with shorter overall survival (OS) in DLBCL. More than two kinds of CA and CA of chromosome 3, 13 were associated with shorter OS in MCL.

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of CA was higher in aggressive lymphoma than in indolent lymphoma. Complex CA were quite common, and some specific CA might have prognostic significance.