**6.7 Burkitt lymphoma**

Burkitt Lymphoma is a high-grade B-cell lymphoma composed of medium-sized, rapidly dividing lymphocytes. Less commonly, they have a leukemic phase. It is classified into (1) African (endemic) Burkitt lymphoma, (2) sporadic (nonendemic) Burkitt lymphoma, and (3) a subset of aggressive lymphomas occurring in individuals infected with HIV. Translocations of the MYC gene on chromosome 8 lead to increased MYC protein levels. The translocation partner for MYC is usually the IgH locus [t (8; 14)] but may also be the Ig κ [t (2; 8)] or λ [t (8; 22)] light chain loci. The translocated MYC allele often harbors additional point mutations. Endemic Burkitt lymphomas are seen to be latently infected with Epstein bar virus (EBV) (100%) and 20 to 40% in sporadic and immunodeficiency-associated Burkitt lymphomas. Both endemic and sporadic Burkitt lymphomas are found mainly in children or young adults. Most tumors involve extranodal sites. Endemic Burkitt lymphoma usually presents as mandibular mass and unusually involves abdominal viscera. In contrast, sporadic Burkitt lymphoma often involves the ileocecum and peritoneum [1, 25, 57–59].
