The Clinical Findings of Gastrointestinal Burkitt Lymphoma in Adults

Jung, Jae Hong; Lee, Jun Haeng; Lee, Jae Seung; Choi, Sung Chul; Chang, Dong Kyung; Kim, Young Ho; Son, Hee Jung; Rhee, Poong Lyul; Kim, Jae J; Rhee, Jong Chul; Ko, Young Hyeh; Kim, Won Seog

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
The endoscopic and clinical findings of gastrointestinal (GI) Burkitt lymphoma in Koreans are not well known. METHODS: From January 1995 to July 2007, 80 patients (47 adults and 33 children) were diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma at our institution. The clinical and endoscopic manifestations were analyzed in the adult patients (n=20, median age=52 yr) with GI Burkitt lymphoma. RESULTS: The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain (50%) followed by epigastic soreness (30%). Among the 20 patients with GI Burkitt lymphoma, 11 (55%) had gastric lesions, 4 (20%) had colonic lesions, 3 (15%) had both gastric and duodenal lesions, 1 (5%) had both gastric and colonic lesions, and 1 (5%) had gastric, duodenal and colonic lesions. For the 13 patients who had endoscopic pictures available, the most common type of disease was the ulcerative type (38.5%) followed by the ulcerofungating and ulceroinfiltrative types (23.1% and 23.1%, respectively). Most of the patients were diagnosed with advanced disease. The most common clinical stage was stage IVE (60%) by the Musshoff staging system. All 20 patients received combination chemotherapy, and the 5-year survival rate was 64%. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with GI Burkitt lymphoma, the most commonly involved site was the stomach. Most lesions were ulcerative with or without fungating morphology. Considering the advanced stage of most patients, the prognosis after systemic chemotherapy was favorable.