Burkitt's lymphoma in AIDS: cytogenetic study

Cytogenetic studies were done in two cases of Burkitt's lymphoma in homosexual individuals with possible acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The chromosomal abnormalities found are consistent with those previously described in the nonendemic form of Burkitt's lymphoma, with one of the two patients having the variant translocation, t(8;22). The production of the kappa light chain immunoglobulin by the tumor cells from the patient having t(8;22) and the occurrence of the different sites of translocation of the duplication of 1 q in the second patient are unusual findings. Whether there is an increase in the incidence of the variant translocation t(8;22) is yet to be determined.