Burkitt's lymphoma in Japan: clinicopathological features of twenty-two patients

The clinicopathological features of 22 Japanese patients with Burkitt's lymphoma were reviewed. There were 14 males and 8 females with a mean age of 9.5 years. Jaw tumors dominated the clinical picture at the time of diagnosis with abdominal tumors second in frequency. The central nervous system and bone marrow were involved during the course of the disease in 32% of the patients. The anti-Epstein-Barr (EB) virus antibody titers in Japanese patients were comparable to those found in control group. Serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were lower in patients with localized disease than those with advanced tumor. The neoplastic cells were monoclonal B lymphocytes. The patients were very refractory to chemotherapy and had a poor prognosis with a mean survival of 3.8 months from diagnosis.