Beyond the morphological, immunophenotypic, and genetic information used for the diagnosis of lymphoid malignancies, molecular analyses have deepened our insights into the development of B-cell lymphomas. We have learned that B-cell tumors can be grouped according to the mutational status of their immunoglobulin variable (V) region genes, and this has become an important prognostic tool in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The analysis of V genes also has allowed us to more precisely place B-cell lymphomas relative to their normal B-cell counterparts and to the germinal center where somatic hypermutation takes place. It has become evident that many of the common B-cell tumors arise at this site and are able to respond to stimuli, which govern normal B-cells. In this chapter, we focus on the analysis of V genes in follicular lymphomas based on the experience in our laboratory and provide a detailed guide for this analysis.
