A 50-year-old man presents with fever and diffuse lymphadenopathy. A lymph node biopsy reveals non Hodgkin follicular lymphoma. Immunohistochemical staining of neoplastic lymphoid cells within the nodular areas of the lymph node would be expected to stain positively for which of the following protein markers?
High-Yield Explanation
Follicular lymphoma is a clonal lymphoid proliferation derived from germinal-center B cells. The most common cytogenetic translocation in follicular lymphoma is t(14;18)(q32;q21), with IgH and bcl-2 as paner genes. The bcl-2 protein, expressed in follicular lymphoma, is localized in the mitochondrial membrane and functions as an apoptosis inhibitor. Bax is a pro-apoptotic protein.Diagnosis: Follicular lymphoma