Classification of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous B-lymphotrophic herpesvirus, has been found in the tumor cells of a heterogeneous group of malignancies (Burkitt's lymphoma, lymphomas associated with immunosuppression, other non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric adenocarcinoma, lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas, and immunodeficiency-related leiomyosarcoma). As the epidemiologic characteristics of these cancers have not been considered together, this review seeks to relate their incidence patterns and risk factors to EBV biology and virus-host interaction in an attempt to help elucidate factors involved in EBV-related carcinogenesis. We include a brief review of EBV virology and primary infection to provide a biologic context for considering the epidemiology, summarize the most salient epidemiologic features of each malignancy, synthesize epidemiologic data by risk factor to uncover commonalities and informative contrasts across the diseases, and propose hypotheses regarding etiologic mechanisms, based on the possible effect of the risk factors at various stages in the viral life cycle.

Epstein–Barr virus-associated malignancies: epidemiologic patterns and etiologic implications

https://www.cidjournal.com/article/S0738-081X(07)00197-6/pdf

Hyaluronan in skin: aspects of aging and its pharmacologic modulation.

TWO decades have passed since Denis Burkitt, a British surgeon working in Uganda, originally described the tumor that now bears his name.1 The discovery that this tumor has distinctive clinical and...

Burkitt's lymphoma.

Four-hundred-twenty-one Americans diagnosed as having Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), 409 from the United States, were studied by the American BL Registry to obtain information about the cause and control of this disease. Of these 421 cases, 256 were confirmed by our pathologists as being morphologically indistinguishable from African BL, A relationship between age and organ involvement was observed; cervical lymph nodes, ileum, and nasopharynx were initial sites of involvement primarily in younger patients. Although the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was less frequently associated with American BL than African, a high antibody titer to the EBV capsid antigen was associated with a more favorable prognosis. American BL resembled African BLs time-space clustering, male predominance, and excellent response to chemotherapy. Unlike African BL, however, more patients had involvement of cervical lymph nodes and bone marrow at an early stage of disease. American BL appears to be a more heterogeneous disease than African BL.

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/1097-0142%2819820301%2949%3A5%3C1016%3A%3AAID-CNCR2820490527%3E3.0.CO%3B2-H

The American Burkitt's Lymphoma Registry: eight years' experience.

In an area of Tanzania in which Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is endemic, five families are described in which multiple cases of BL were found or BL occurred with other neoplasms. The patients include two brothers and one half-brother with BL, two brothers with BL, a woman with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) whose daughter had BL, a boy with BL whose sister developed chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML), and a man with CML whose son developed BL. The two full-sib pairs with BL is significantly more than would be expected to have arisen by chance and the association of BL with NPC and CML among close relatives is remarkable in view of the rarity of the last two neoplasms in the study area. It is suggested that genetic factors may be important. It is suggested that genetic factors may be important in determining susceptibility to the three malignancies in this population, but the possibility that the clustering of cases within families may be due to local environmental factors cannot be excluded.

Multiple cases of Burkitt's lymphoma and other neoplasms in families in the North Mara District of Tanzania.

Spontaneous rosette formation was observed in eight out of nine Burkitt lymphoma biopsies. These were examined fresh and/or after culture in vitro for up to 48 h. The percentage of rosettes varied from 3.7% to 38%. There was a tendency for the percentage of rosettes to increase with time in tissue culture. It is suggested that the rosette-forming cells are T-lymphocytes infiltrating the tumour and functioning as a host defence mechanism against the proliferating tumour cells.

In vitro immunological studies on east african cancer patients. III. Spontaneous rosette formation by cells from Burkitt lymphoma biopsies.

Frozen aliquots of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) at various stages of the disease have been compared with samples from East African children who were healthy or who suffered from non-malignant disorders. Using the sheep-cell rosette test (which is believed to identify T-lymphocytes), we found a significant reduction in the proportion of rosette-forming cells (RFC) in the samples from untreated BL patients. After induction of remission the difference between BL patients and controls was abolished. Rosette formation was more readily inhibited by anti-lymphocyte globulin (ALG) in samples from untreated BL patients than in controls. On induction of remission the rosette inhibition curve shifted towards the control values. The findings are compatible with the presence, in untreated BL, of a circulating factor which impairs the capacity of T-lymphocytes to form rosettes with sheep erythrocytes. It remains to be established whether the functional capacity of T-cells to protect the host against tumour proliferation is also impaired.

In vitro immunological studies on East African cancer patients. II. Increased sensitivity of blood lymphocytes from untreated Burkitt lymphoma patients to inhibition of spontaneous rosette formation.

C. M. Steel

Papers

Multiple cases of Burkitt's lymphoma and other neoplasms in families in the North Mara District of Tanzania.

In vitro immunological studies on east african cancer patients. III. Spontaneous rosette formation by cells from Burkitt lymphoma biopsies.

In vitro immunological studies on East African cancer patients. II. Increased sensitivity of blood lymphocytes from untreated Burkitt lymphoma patients to inhibition of spontaneous rosette formation.