Burkitt's lymphoma (or "Burkitt's tumor", or "Malignant lymphoma, Burkitt's type") is a cancer of the lymphatic system (in particular, B lymphocytes). It is associated with the Epstein-Barr virus, also the cause of mononucleosis as well as other cancers. It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, a surgeon who first described the disease in 1956 while working in equatorial Africa.
Children affected with the disease often also had chronic malaria which is believed to have reduced resistance to the virus. This is known as classical African or endemic Burkitt's lymphoma. Disease characteristics include large tumors in the facial or abdominal regions.
Outside of central Africa, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is found where cancer cells have a similar appearance to the cancer cells of classical African or endemic Burkitt's lymphoma. This condition is known as the non-African or sporadic type of Burkitt's lymphoma. Again it is believed that impaired immunity provides an opening for development of the Epstein-Barr virus. Examination of chromosomes in this tumor shows translocation of the myc gene with an Ig gene is seen in this lymphoma, commonly.
Microscopy
Consists of undifferentiated, small, noncleaved cells in broad sheets of tumor cells. Burkitt's lymphoma demonstrates starry sky appearance due to the macrophage ingestion of tumor cells.
Malignant B cell characteristics
Malignant B cells have identical DNA recombinations of the V(D)J region of the Immunoglobin genes. This means that no increase in specificity of Antibody molecules is occurring in the malignant cells. These malignant cells are thus clonal populations and can be assayed for by using DNA probes specific for the regions where recombination is expected. Normal DNA will be characterized by two high concentration of identical germ line DNA V(D)J regions and endless, likely undetectable, non-germline Ig V(D)J DNA. Lymphoma cells have an additional high concentration of V(D)J DNA that is unlike the germline, indicating clonal populations of B Cells that are not undifferentiated B Cells (Germline DNA cells). Assays typically use the process of Electrophoresis and southern blot analysis to determine the existence of these characteristics.
Treatment
Effect of the chemotherapy, as with all cancers, depends on the time of diagnosis. With faster growing cancers, such as this one, the cancer actually responds faster than with slower growing cancers.
Chemotherapy
cyclophosphamide
doxorubicin
vincristine
methotrexate
cytarabine
ifosfamide
etoposide
other treatments are immunotherapy, bone marrow transplants, surgery to remove the tumor, and radiotherapy