Rearrangement of TCR gamma chain gene involving JP1 suggests early thymocyte origin of peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTL) are morphologically and immunophenotypically heterogeneous. We have examined a series of cases to determine whether this heterogeneity is reflected at the level of developmentally specific T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement. 4 of 5 cases had clonal rearrangements of TCR beta and gamma chain genes; one of these also had a probable DQ52-J immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement. 2 of the 4 TCR gamma gene rearrangements involved the most 5' J region, JP1, a characteristic of immature thymocytes. These 2 cases also had immunophenotypic features of immaturity. Taken together, our results suggest that TCR gene rearrangement is correlated with surface marker data and shows that in some cases PTL may arise from a very early stage of thymocyte maturation.