Follicular and Mantle Cell Lymphomas: Technical and Interpretive Considerations; Karyotyping, FISH, Chromosomal Microarray, Sequencing, B Cell Clonality, Minimal Residual Disease

A tremendous amount of work has gone into clarifying the genetic determinants of follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphomas (MCL), and a large body of knowledge has been accumulated. Because these diagnoses can usually be rendered based on morphologic and phenotypic characterization, genetic studies are generally assigned secondary importance in present clinical workups. That being said, the relatively recent proliferation of new testing modalities has revitalized general interest in the genetic interrogation of lymphomas. Here we will discuss some technical and interpretive considerations as related to the clinical genetic testing of follicular and mantle cell lymphomas.