A clinicopathological study of 13 Danish Cases of Burkitt's lymphoma

During a 4-year period 24 cases of malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas were proposed to be of the Burkitt-type (BL) by at least 1 of 5 pathologists of the lymphoma Registry in Jutland, Denmark. When the histological material was critically reviewed the diagnosis could be maintained in only 13 cases. 9 of the remaining 11 cases were immunoblastic lymphomas (IBL). Immunohistochemical stainings for cytoplasmic Ig-chains revealed generally weak reactions in the cases of BL. A distinct B-zone homing phenomenon first appearing in the lymphocytic mantle zone was observed in several lymph nodes from 2 patients with BL. In the BL-group the correlation between initial clinical stage and survival was satisfactory, the 2-year survival rate being 38% in the total BL-group. The incidence of BL was 2.1% of the malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in the registry.