Nonendemic Burkitt's lymphoma with complex chromosome abnormalities involving chromosomes 2 and 8

A long surviving patient with nonendemic Burkitt's lymphoma and complex cytogenetic findings is presented. Chromosome abnormalities were seen as a minor clone in peripheral blood and were considered consistent with the t(2;8)(p12;q24) variant. The karyotype was 47,XY, -2, -8, + der2(8qter-8q24::2p12-2qter), + der8(8pter-8q23::2p12-2pter) + der8(8qter-8cen::1q21-1qter). This case illustrates the value of extensive chromosome analysis in hematologic disorders and, at the time of writing, is the first example in Britain of the t(2;8) variant in Burkitt's lymphoma.