Gene Expression Profiling reveals a close relationship between Follicular lymphoma Grade 3A and 3B, but distinct profiles of Follicular Lymphoma Grade 1 and 2. Gene Expression Profiling reveals a close relationship between Follicular lymphoma Grade 3A and 3B, but distinct profiles of Follicular Lymphoma Grade 1 and 2

Since follicular lymphoma (FL) grade 3A often coexist with a FL1/2 component a linear progression model of FL1, FL2 and FL3A has been developed. FL3B, on the other hand, is supposed to be more closely related to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and both FL3B and DLBCL are often simultaneously present in one tumor (DLBCL/FL3B). To obtain more detailed insight into FL progression, comprehensive analysis of a well-defined set of FL1/2 (n=22), FL3A (n=16), FL3B (n=6), DLBCL/FL3B (n=9) and DLBCL (n=45) was performed using gene expression profiling, immunohistochemical staining and genetic analysis by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Overall design: 36 follicular lymphoma samples were hybridized to HGU133A Affymetrix GeneChips. In addition, this study contains 99 already published samples whereas 51 of them contribute to GSE4475, 36 contribute to GSE22470, 9 to GSE44164 and 3 to GSE48097. No re-normalisation of published samples was performed.