Burkitt’s lymphoma: new insights into molecular pathogenesis
- 1Institute of Pathological Anatomy and Histology, University of Siena, Via delle Scotte, 6, 53100 Siena, Italy
- 2Department of Pathology, Nairobi Hospital, Kenya
- 3Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
- Correspondence to: Professor L Leoncini, Institute of Pathological Anatomy and Histology, University of Siena, Nuovo Policlinico ‘Le Scotte’, Via delle Scotte, 6, 53100 Siena, Italy; leoncinil{at}unisi.it
- Accepted 11 July 2002
Abstract
The World Health Organisation classification reports three subcategories of Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL)—endemic, non-endemic, and immunodeficiency associated—proposed to reflect the major clinical and genetic subtypes of this disease. These different types of BL have been reviewed and studied by immunohistochemistry and molecular methods. The results point out the heterogeneity of BL and suggest that AIDS related BL may have a different pathogenesis from that of classic BL.
- BL, Burkitt’s lymphoma
- DLBCL, diffuse large B cell lymphoma
- EBV, Epstein-Barr virus
- HIV, human immunodeficiency virus
- Rb, retinoblastoma
- WHO, World Health Organisation
Footnotes
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Some of the results contained in this paper have already been presented at the XI Meeting of the European Association of Haematopathology, held in Siena on 26–30 May 2002.
