Distribution of 22 well-established TCRBV gene families from seven HCL patients, analyzed before and during IFN-α therapy. The X-axis shows the time points in days. Patient B was analyzed 221 days before IFN was started. The Y-axis gives the absolute number of TCRBV families assessed from 1-23 with TCRBV20 not analyzed, and with TCRBV5 and TCRBV13 shown as 5a, 5b, 13a, and 13b. The large BV5 was split into 5a (BV5S1) and 5b (BV5S2-6); amplification of BV13 resulted in two patterns on the gels, which were analyzed separately. PCR pattern: (▪), Polyclonal; (▧), absent/weak; (□), oligoclonal.