Genotypic divergence precedes clinical dissemination in a case of synchronous bilateral B-cell malignant lymphoma of the testes.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Malignant lymphoma of the testis occurs bilaterally more often than any other tumor type. We report the case of a 62-year-old man who presented with synchronous, bilateral, testicular malignant lymphomas without clinical or radiologic evidence of extratesticular disease. The patient received no therapy other than bilateral orchiectomy and subsequently developed widespread disease 6 months later. Southern blot DNA analysis was performed on the initial orchiectomy samples for immunoglobulin (Ig) gene rearrangements. These genotypic analyses showed different clonal rearrangements in the Ig heavy chain JH region but identical clonal rearrangements in the Ig light chain C Kappa region. To our knowledge this is the first genotypic demonstration of a common clonal origin in synchronous, bilateral, testicular malignant lymphomas. We interpret these findings as molecular evidence that the patient's malignant lymphoma was already disseminated at initial presentation, although it was clinically undetectable at that time.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Bentley, RC; Devlin, B; Kaufman, RE; Borowitz, M; Ratech, H

Published Date

  • June 1993

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 24 / 6

Start / End Page

  • 675 - 678

PubMed ID

  • 8505044

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0046-8177

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/0046-8177(93)90249-g

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States