Burkitt lymphoma

: A type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that most often occurs in young people between the ages of 12 and 30, accounting for 40% to 50% of childhood NHL. The disease usually causes a rapidly growing tumor in the abdomen. Up to 90% of these tumors are in the abdomen. Other sites of involvement include the testis, sinuses, bone, lymph nodes, skin, bone marrow, and central nervous system. Burkitt lymphoma is a small noncleaved cell lymphoma of B-cell origin. About 25% of Burkitt lymphomas contain Epstein-Barr virus genomes. These tumors are due to a characteristic chromosomal translocation, usually a t(8;14) translocation or, less often, a t(8;22) or t(2;8) translocation. Each of these translocations juxtaposes the c-myc oncogene with immunoglobulin locus regulatory elements, resulting in the inappropriate expression of c-myc, a gene involved in cellular proliferation.

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Bur·kitt lymphoma (burґkit) [Denis Parsons Burkitt, Irish surgeon in Uganda, 1911–1993] see under lymphoma.