I have stage 4 non Hodgkin lymphoma. Specifically, I have CLL/SLL. I got the FISH results back and they show 16% positive for deletion ATM. The report goes on to say “Deletion of ATM is associated with marked lymphadenopathy and rapid disease progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL).”
Can anyone tell me what this means?
This is a statistical prediction that may or may not apply to you. Only time will tell. Lymphadenopathy just means that you may find that your CLL preferentially collects in your lymph nodes rather than your blood.
Neil
Dylan, FISH looks to see what type of cll we have. Different types of cll act differently.
ATM is a type of gene that helps us naturally fight cancer. It is found on the long arm (q) of our 11th chromosome. When the long arm of the 11th chromosome is missing, it is called a deletion. 11q cll deleted cll typically involves a loss of the ATM gene because its on the missing (deleted) 11q arm.
11q cll is usually associated with our cll cancer cells accumulating in lymph nodes as opposed to our blood. When our lymph nodes grow and get bulky such that you can feel the lumps, that's called lymyphdenapothy.
11q cll is considered more aggressive than some other cll types, but responds very well to many of the new treatments we have. I hope to do a larger post for the board here later today explaining FISH results which I hope will be helpful. It gets very confusing.
Results back from the FISH
Just got word from the doctor in my FISH test result
FISH ATM what does it mean?
Fishing
FISH Results; Co-existance of Trisomy 12 & 13q deletion
