Primary breast Burkitt lymphoma with lactic acidosis in a child: a case report

Primary breast lymphoma is extremely rare and constitutes approximately 1% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Only 1-5% of them are Burkitt type. We present a case of childhood primary breast Burkitt lymphoma (BL).

A 16-year-old female patient was referred to our hospital for bilateral breast swelling and respiratory distress. She had lactic acidosis. Despite aggressive dialysis support, lactic acid levels started to decrease only after the combination chemotherapy treatment was started and returned to normal. Histopathological examination of the biopsy was consistent with the diagnosis of BL. The case was classified as stage 4 disease. EICNHL Mature B NHL protocol, Group C3 chemotherapy was given and a very good partial response was achieved. However, the patient died due to fungal septicemia.

Type B lactic acidosis in aggressive malignancies indicates a poor prognosis. In such cases, as in our case, lactic acidosis improves only with appropriate and sufficient chemotherapy, and its improvement is an important indicator that the case is responsive to treatment.