Burkitt Lymphoma

            Burkitt Lymphoma is a genetic disease first discovered and named after Denis Parsons Burkitt. Burkitt Lymphoma is a type of cancer that is seen most often in African Americans. In Africa this disease is known as Epstein-Barr Virus or EBV. Epstein-Barr's disease is very closely related to Burkitt Lymphoma so scientists consider them the same. .
             Burkitt lymphoma is endemic in certain regions of equatorial Africa and other tropical locations between latitudes 10 south and 10 north. Incidence in these endemic regions is 100 per million children. .
             The disease Burkitt Lymphoma is recessive and is sexually inherited. Though the exact cause of Burkitt Lymphoma has not been determined scientists do have some ideas on how it is formed. It is commonly caused when c-myc on the fourteenth chromosome is translocated form it's normal position at the eighth chromosome and moved to the fourteenth chromosome. Though scientists find this to be the most probable cause for Burkitt Lymphoma 90% of the time, in the other 10% the cause of this disease is undetermined. .
             Most people who get Burkitt Lymphoma know they have it when a tumor forms on your body. The tumor can form on the face as a very large bump; it can also form on the abdominal area. Burkitt Lymphoma is a life threatening disease and commonly occurs between the ages of 6 through 9 in African Americans. In all other people it tends to occur around the years 9-13. Though the disease is known to occur in other populations it mostly occurs African American children.
             There are a few prescription drugs can treat Burkitt Lymphoma (drugs listed on chart on back of report). The other leading form of treatment for Burkitt Lymphoma is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is only used in cases of prolonged exposure to Burkitt Lymphoma. Another way of treating Burkitt Lymphoma is to have the lump made from it surgically removed at an early stage when the tumor is still relatively small.