Clonality Tests The unique process of genetic rearrangements in the immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene loci during immune cell development and maturation generates a vast pool of genetically distinct cells. During early lymphoid differentiation, genes encoding the Ig and TCR molecules are formed by stepwise rearrangement of variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segments. During this V-D-J recombination process, nucleotides are deleted and randomly inserted at the joining sites, resulting in an enormous diversity of unique antigen receptors. As Ig/TCR gene rearrangements occur sequentially in the earliest stages of lymphoid differentiation, they are present in almost all immature and mature lymphoid cells. Since lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic or the immune system, the vast majority of lymphomas exhibit rearrangements in Ig and/or TCR genes. Lymphoid malignancies are characterized by the reduced population diversity of these gene loci originating from the proliferative transformation of an individual lymphoid cell. The associated cellular population typically shares one or more cell-specific or “clonal” antigen-receptor gene rearrangements. The detection of these clonal cells provides the basis for clonality assessment in leukemia, lymphoma, and hematologic disease diagnosis. Invivoscribe (LabPMM’s parent company) is an industry pioneer with over 20 years of experience in providing clonality test solutions. Our expertise in clonality testing assures the highest rates of detection of clonal populations as well as internationally standardization of results. LabPMM Services Catalog 2019 | 29 28