Bay Biosciences provides high quality, clinical grade, biopsy tumor tissue samples, FFPE tumor tissue blocks with matched cryogenically preserved sera (serum), plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluid samples from patients diagnosed with Burkitt lymphomas.
The sera (serum), plasma and PBMC biofluid specimens are processed from Burkitt lymphoma patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.
The Burkitt’s lymphoma tumor tissue and matched biofluid samples are collected from unique patients diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, diagnostics, discovery and drug development.
The Burkitt’s lymphoma sera (serum), plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluids are processed from patients peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.
Burkitt Lymphoma Overview
Burkitt lymphomas are aggressive B-cell cancers (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) that frequently involve aggressive progression in the bone marrow and in the central nervous system.
It is an aggressive cancer that starts in B cells, which are part of the immune system. It can lead to death, but intensive treatment can improve the likelihood of long-term survival.
Burkitt lymphoma (also known as small non-cleaved cell lymphoma and Burkitt’s lymphoma) has a variant termed Burkitt-like lymphoma or BLL. Other types of Burkitt lymphoma are termed as follows:
- Endemic or African is a type that usually involves the jaw and the facial bones.
- Sporadic Burkitt lymphoma involves abdominal tumors.
- Immunodeficiency-related Burkitt lymphoma has lymph node and bone marrow involvement.
The WHO (World Health Organization) suggests that there is little difference between Burkitt lymphoma and BLL and considers them essentially the same disease. The other variants are classified under the term Burkitt lymphoma. Because of their rapid progression, these lymphomas are considered medical emergencies that require fast diagnosis and treatment.
Burkitt lymphomas comprise about 1%-2% of all lymphomas. The African variety usually starts as a jaw tumor while in United States, they usually begin as an abdominal tumor. About 90% of these lymphomas occur in males. In Africa, they occur mainly in children while in United States, the average age of onset is 30 years.
Types of Burkitt Lymphoma
Following are the three types of Burkitt lymphomas:
- Endemic
- Immunodeficiency-related
- Sporadic
The types and their underlying causes vary by geographical region and their effects on the body.
Endemic
Endemic Burkitt lymphoma is the most common form of the cancer. It mainly occurs in Central Africa and commonly affects children. It often enlarges the face and jaw.
Immunodeficiency-related
Immunodeficiency-related Burkitt lymphoma mainly occurs in people with HIV. Less frequently, it affects patients who have received organ transplants.
Sporadic
Sporadic Burkitt lymphoma occurs irregularly, without a clear explanation. It is a rarer form of this cancer, and it occurs throughout the world.
This type usually causes a tumor in the abdomen and can affect the bone marrow. From there, the cancer may spread to other organs, such as the ovaries, breasts, or kidneys.
Signs and Symptoms Burkitt Lymphoma
Signs and symptoms vary depending on the type of Burkitt lymphoma and the organ systems and tissues that it affects. Some general symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Headache
- Loss of appetite
- Masses in the jaw
- Nausea
- Night Sweats
- Paraplegia
- Renal failure
- Visual impairment
- Vomiting
- Unexplained Weight Loss
- Weakness
As Burkitt lymphoma spreads, it may affect the:
- Breasts
- Gastrointestinal tract (GIT)
- Central Nervous system (CNS)
- Ovaries
Certain types of this cancer can cause additional symptoms. Sporadic Burkitt lymphoma, for example, can also cause:
- Abdominal Pain
- Bowel pain and bleeding
- An enlarged thyroid
- Facial bone distortion
- Enlarged tonsils
- Abdominal Swelling
Abdominal symptoms are more prominent with Burkitt lymphoma seen in the U.S., while endemic (African) Burkitt lymphoma tends to cause more jaw-related symptoms.
Causes of Burkitt Lymphoma
Cancer occurs when cells in the body mutate and change. If too many of these cells multiply, they can damage surrounding tissues and organs.
Burkitt lymphoma is rare, accounting for about one to five percent of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases. It is more common in children, and the average age at diagnosis is 6 years old. This form of cancer is three to four times more likely to affect males than females.
The exact cause of Burkitt lymphoma is not known, but the risk of developing it is greater in certain people and certain geographical regions. However, the lymphomas are characterized by a translocation and deregulation of a gene (c-myc) on chromosome 8.
As the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center notes, this cancer has ties to complications from chronic malaria and infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. A type called endemic Burkitt lymphoma is more common in areas with higher rates of Epstein-Barr virus infections and malaria, including Central Africa and Papua New Guinea.
Patients with immunodeficiencies, resulting from HIV, for example, can also have an increased risk of Burkitt lymphoma.
Diagnosis of Burkitt Lymphoma
Because Burkitt lymphoma spreads so quickly, prompt diagnosis is essential. The process involves a physical examination, first, to look for signs, such as enlarged lymph nodes.
If Burkitt lymphoma is suspected, all or part of an enlarged lymph node or other suspicious disease site will be biopsied. In a biopsy, a sample of tissue is examined under a microscope. This will confirm or rule out Burkitt lymphoma.
To diagnose Burkitt lymphoma pathologic evaluation of the involved tissue is required, consequently a bone marrow biopsy or aspiration is sometimes required and/or a tissue sample, for example, lymph node biopsy or a jaw tissue mass biopsy is done.
In addition addition to the biopsy, laboratory testing is usually done, and imaging studies such as CT scans and echocardiography help determine the extent of the disease. Other procedures or studies that may be performed are removal of fluid collections in the abdomen or thorax for cytogenetic evaluation.
Other tests include the following:
- A bone marrow biopsy to check for changes there
- Blood tests to assess the function of organs
- CT scans
- Gallium scans to look for signs of cancer in other areas of the body
- HIV testing
- X-rays to check for damage in the body
Staging of Burkitt Lymphoma
The stage of a tumor is the extent to which it has spread in the body. Unfortunately, different researchers have different ways of staging Burkitt lymphoma. The National Cancer Institute has a five stage system and is as follows:
- A: Single solitary extra-abdominal site
- AR: Intra-abdominal, more than 90% of tumor resected
- B: Multiple extra-abdominal tumors
- C: Intra-abdominal tumor
- D: Intra-abdominal plus 1 or more extra-abdominal sites
The Michigan Ann Arbor system and St. Jude/Murphy system uses the following stages:
- Cancer Stage I: Single tumor (extranodal or outside a lymph node) or single anatomic area
- Stage II: Single tumor (extranodal) with regional node involved, primary gastrointestinal tumor and/or lymphoma involving nodal areas on the same side of the diaphragm
- Cancer Stage IIR: Completely resected intra-abdominal disease
- Stage III: Lymphoma involving sites on opposite sides of the diaphragm, all primary intrathoracic tumors, all paraspinal or epidural tumors, and/or extensive intra-abdominal disease
Treatment of Burkitt Lymphoma
Because Burkitt lymphomas are very aggressive and fast-growing cancers, patients with the disease should be quickly evaluated by an oncologist and/or hematologist for aggressive chemotherapy.
Treatment can vary depending on the course of the disease. When doctors identify Burkitt lymphoma early in its progression, they use more aggressive treatments.
Since the risk of tumor lysis syndrome (an emergency condition caused by lysis of tumor cells with the release of large amounts of tumor cell contents like nucleic acids, potassium, and uric acid into the body, resulting in renal, vascular, and Inflammatory problems), patients will need close observation while undergoing therapy.
Chemotherapy treatment through intravenous injections is one option. The chemotherapy drugs can vary, but they may include the following:
- Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
- Etoposide (Vepesid)
- Cytarabine (Cytosar-U)
- Doxorubicin (Adriamycin)
- Methotrexate (Trexall)
- Vincristine (Oncovin)
Because of possible effects on the central nervous system, the doctors may instead deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into the spinal fluid, using what is called an intrathecal injection.
Treatment plans can involve a combination of chemotherapy drugs and other medications, such as rituximab (Rituxan). A doctor may recommend one of the following combination treatment regimens:
- EPOCH
- CODOX-M
- R-CHOP
- Hyper CVAD
For patients with HIV, doctors may recommend less toxic versions of chemotherapy drugs.
To enhance the effects or manage side effects of chemotherapy, doctors may also recommend:
- Radiation therapy
-
Stem cell transplantation
- Steroid therapy
In general, immunotherapy may help improve a patient’s outlook. And a doctor may recommend surgery to remove areas that have been damaged by the cancer, such as parts of the intestines that might otherwise cause blockages.
For patients who cannot endure intense chemotherapy, the treatment plan may focus on easing symptoms.
Prognosis of Burkitt Lymphoma
The prognosis for about 90% of pediatric patients and up to 50%-60% of adults is good, with long-term survival expected if the patient is quickly diagnosed and treated appropriately with chemotherapy. The prognosis for adults is more guarded.
Survival rate of Burkitt Lymphoma Patients
- Adults usually do not do as well as children, especially if they have bone marrow involvement; cytogenetics of adult cells is more complex, resulting in aggressive disease.
- Survival for children can be as high as 90% as compared to about 50%-60% for adults.
- For adults with low-risk disease, the five-year survival rate is about 71%, while high-risk aggressive lymphomas have about a 29% five-year survival rate.
- The survival rate decreases as the patient’s age increases.
Follow up care for Burkitt Lymphoma Patients
- Patients who undergo chemotherapy may develop complications such as tumor lysis syndrome, renal failure, heart problems, infections, sterility, or other cancers.
- Consequently, patients need continual follow-up care to monitor for any complications that may develop, including recurrence of their lymphoma.
Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.
Samples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.
Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.
Our biobank procures and stores fully consented, deidentified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.
All our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.
This critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.
Patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.
Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.
Including fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.
Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.
Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.
Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:
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In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.
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