Cellular Origin of Human B-Cell Lymphomas

The origin of human lymphomas has been studied by various approaches, including histology and immunophenotyping. In some types of lymphoma these studies suggested the cellular origin, but in many instances the origin could not be identified. When somatic mutations of the genes for the variable region of the B-lymphocyte antigen receptor proved to be a hallmark of germinal-center B cells and their descendants, sequence analysis of the variable-region genes of B-cell lymphomas offered a molecular approach to studying the origin of the tumors. Before discussing the results of these studies, we outline the human peripheral B-cell repertoire and its generation. . . .