Abstract PL01-03: Molecular patterns of endemic, sporadic, and AIDS-related Burkitt's lymphoma: Clues to distinct biology of subtypes

Abstract

Abstract Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is a monoclonal B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with three clinical-epidemiological subtypes: endemic BL occurs mostly in Africa, tropical areas of Latin America, and Papua New Guinea and is linked to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV); sporadic BL occurs worldwide in children and young adults less than 20% of cases are linked to EBV; and AIDS-associated BL, which occurs in the setting of HIV infection in developed countries. Except for the later, BL is generally recognized to be a pediatric lymphoma with some cases that occur in young adults and, rarely, in the elderly. The central molecular abnormality in all subtypes is deregulation of cellular MYC gene, due to t(8;14), or infrequently, variant translocations. All subtypes are histologically indistinguishable. We have recently observed non-monotonic age-specific incidence peaks in sporadic and AIDS-related BL in the U.S., suggesting a mixture of BL with different etiologies and/or biology, and peaks during childhood, adulthood, and in the elderly. The molecular correlates of age-specific peaks of BL are not well established, but may include viral markers linked to BL (EBV and HIV) or other unknown factors. The presentation will compare and contrast age, sex, anatomic site, viral, and molecular patterns of endemic, sporadic, and AIDS-related BL and advance the hypothesis that age-related peaks may represent an alternative approach to identify BL with different etiology and/or biology. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):PL01-03.