This means the doctors have found a particular type of change inside the lymphoma cells. The t(11;14) change is usually found in a type of NHL called mantle cell lymphoma. Knowing you have this change helps your doctors to choose the most appropriate treatment for you.

After doctors diagnose lymphoma they do more tests on the abnormal lymphoma cells. This helps them to find out as much as possible about the type of lymphoma you have and so choose the best treatment for you.

One of the tests doctors use is a cytogenetics test. This test looks for changes in chromosomes inside the lymphoma cells. Chromosomes are made up of genes and are found inside all cells. They act like an instruction manual and control the day to day activities of the cells.

There are 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each pair is numbered, from 1 to 22. The last two chromosomes are the sex chromosomes XX for females and XY for males.

If the lymphoma cells have a t(11;14) change this means that a piece of chromosome 11 has been swapped with a piece of chromosome 14. Because of this change the lymphoma cells make too much of a protein called cyclin D1.

Cyclin D1 is protein found in many cells. Normally it plays a part in the process of new cells being made. But, if there is too much cyclin D1 inside cells it encourages more new cells to be made than are needed by the body. In NHL the t(11,14) change encourages lymphoma cells to be made.