BURKITT'S LYMPHOMA IN CHILDHOOD : TEN YEARS FOLLOW-UP

Between 1992 and 2002, medical records of 28 patients with Burkitt's lymphoma who were treated in our center were retrospectively reviewed for clinical characteristics and prognostic factors. The mean age of diagnosis was 6 years, with an age range of 2-13 years. The most common primary sites were abdomen (57%), jaw (17,8%) and nasopharynx (10,7%). The male-female ratio was 6 / 1. Seven (25%), 11 (39.2 %) and 10 (35.7%) patients had stage II, stage III and IV disease respectively. The treatment protocols were COMP in 7, BFM 90 in 10 and BFM 95 in 11 patients. Follow-up period was 1-192 months (median 42 months). Five (18%) patients died due to tumor lysis (n:2) and febrile neutropenia (n:3). Age, sex and serum LDH level were not found to affect the survival. On the other hand, advanced disease affected survival. Event-free survival was found 81% for ten years. In conclusion, Burkitt's lymphoma in childhood is successfully treated with intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy and survival rate has increased especially with supportive therapy.

Keywords: Burkitt's lymphoma, childhood, chemoterapy