Burkitt Lymphoma Incidence in Five Continents

• Published in: Hemato Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 434 - 453
• Main Authors: Mbulaiteye, Sam M., Devesa, Susan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Aviano MDPI AG 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Age groups; AIDS; Burkitt lymphoma; Cancer; Chemotherapy; Epidemiology; Epstein Barr virus; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Hypotheses; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Medical research; multimodal cancer; Pathology; Plasmodium falciparum; registry studies; United States > US; Africa
• ISSN: 2673-6357; 2673-6357
• DOI: 10.3390/hemato3030030

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma first described in 1958 by Denis Burkitt in African children. BL occurs as three types, endemic, which occurs in Africa and is causally attributed to Epstein-Barr virus and P. falciparum infections; sporadic, which occurs in temperate areas, but the cause is obscure; and immunodeficiency-type, which is associated with immunosuppression. All BL cases carry IG∷MYC chromosomal translocations, which are necessary but insufficient to cause BL. We report a comprehensive study of the geographic, sex, and age-specific patterns of BL among 15,122 cases from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Volume XI for 2008–2012 and the African Cancer Registry Network for 2018. Age-standardized BL rates were high (>4 cases per million people) in Uganda in Africa, and Switzerland and Estonia in Europe. Rates were intermediate (2–3.9) in the remaining countries in Europe, North America, and Oceania, and low (<2) in Asia. Rates in India were 1/20th those in Uganda. BL rates varied within and between regions, without showing a threshold to define BL as endemic or sporadic. BL rates were twice as high among males as females and showed a bimodal age pattern with pediatric and elderly peaks in all regions. Multi-regional transdisciplinary research is needed to elucidate the epidemiological patterns of BL.