1. Endemic Burkitt's lymphoma: a childhood lymphoma (5 -10 year olds) prevalent in equatorial Africa and intimately associated with both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and a characteristic translocation of the c-myc gene (a gene involved in cellular proliferation).
   

2. Sporadic Burkitt's lymphoma: a world-wide lymphoma affecting slightly older childhood patients, also associated with c-myc changes but less so with EBV infection.

All varieties are more prevalent in males.  Burkitt's was named for Denis Parsons Burkitt, who died in 1993 at the age of 82.

Reference:

• Burkitt DP, The discovery of Burkitt's lymphoma, Cancer 1983 May 15; 51(10):1777-86
• Heaton, K. : Denis Burkitt. Lancet 341: 951-952, 1993.
• Neri A,  et al.: Different regions of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus are involved in chromosomal translocations in distinct pathogenetic forms of Burkitt lymphoma, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1988 Apr; 85(8): 2748-52.

Children

For children, the signs and symptoms usually depend on the site affected by the cancer.   This malignancy grows very rapidly and a child who appeared in good health 4-6 weeks ago may now be ill.  Often the children have a large abdominal mass with fluid buildup.  Pain and vomiting may accompany this.  The less common scenario has the cancerous B cells in the bone marrow causing increased anemia and bleeding. 

Burkitts accounts for about 30 to 40% of all childhood lymphomas. Boys are more likely than girls of having lymphoma of any type.

Combined chemotherapy is standard treatment with the specific type dependent on the stage of the disease.  NCI recommends all children be generally considered for clinical trials and be cared for by a multidisciplinary team of pediatric oncologists.

Childhood Reference:

• Burkitts.Org - dedicated to information on Burkitt's Lymphoma
• Burkitt, D. : A sarcoma involving the jaws in African children. Brit. J. Surg. 46: 218-223, 1958.

Personal Web Pages:

• Kyle's Fight with Cancer highlights a Burkitt's NHL survivor
• Brian's Battle with Burkitt's Lymphoma is the story of a 5 year old who is cancer free after chemotherapy.
• Shelby is a young survivor of Burkett's Lymphoma
• Joey is another Burkitt's survivor

Adults

Burkitt's usually appears in patients that are between 30 to 50 years of age.   It is more often in peripheral lymph nodes; less often in the abdomen. Sporadic Burkitt's, untreated, is extremely aggressive. The disease may respond well to intensive chemotherapy.

Burkitt's / Small non-cleaved cell lymphoma is one of the most common types of lymphoma seen in patients with HIV/AIDS.

Adult Resources:

• Video: Aggressive NHLs from Healthology (updated)

Mailing Lists

• See the mailing list page for lists of NHL and Burkitt's mailing lists (new)

Personal Websites

• D is a 32 year old who survived Burkitt's lymphoma

Further Reading / In-Depth

Living With Lymphoma by Elizabeth Adler, Ph.D., Oct. 2005

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas, Peter M. Mauch (Editor), James O. Armitage (Editor), et al., 2004.

• Section IV: Pathology, Biology, Clinical Evaluation, and Treatment Section
  • Chapter 30: Burkitt's Lymphoma

Information Sources

• NCI Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Information
  Treatment Pages:
  • Adult Patient and Health Professional Information
  • Childhood Patient and Health Professional Info
• The Burkitt's Gene from the National Library of Medicine
• Frontiers in Bioscience is a source of B-cell information.

Resources

• A picture of a lymph node with Burkitt's from UCHC
• Technical discussion of the MYC gene and Burkitt's Lymphoma from the OMIM Database
• Different Chromosomal Translocations in Different Forms of Burkitt's from the Entrez Database (technical)
• The Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology page on Burkitts (new)
• Burkitt's Information from Always Your Choice