Mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a B-cell neoplasm that usually carries the t(11;14)(q13;q32) translocation and constitutively overexpresses cyclin D1. The clinical evolution is relatively aggressive with a poor response to conventional therapeutic regimens, frequent relapses and a median overall survival of 3-5 years. MCL has a wide spectrum of growth patterns. Most cases have a vaguely nodular and/or diffuse growth pattern, very rare cases have a follicular growth pattern, and a larger minority has a mantle zone growth pattern in which the lymphoma grows as an expanded ring around reactive germinal centers. "In situ MCL" is considered as a very early stage of MCL or even a pre-neoplastic state, and thought to be the tissue equivalent of clonal circulating cells carrying the genetic alterations found in their overt counterpart lymphomas. The impact of some of the newer therapeutic approaches remains to be established.