Occurrence of Burkitt’s Lymphoma among All Childhood Tumors Seen in Abia State University Teaching Hospital ABA, South East Nigeria (11 Years Retrospective Study)

Background: Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) is the commonest tumour in Africa. It is a rapidly growing tumour. Its multi-organ involvement and complexity of signs and symptoms, call for an urgent diagnosis and treatment to achieve a better prognosis.
Objective: To determine the occurrence of BL, a childhood tumour, in Abia State University Teaching Hospital in the years 2000 to 2010.
Methodology: It was a descriptive cross sectional survey in which the case files of all the patients who presented at the paediatric clinic, children emergency room, ward and cancer registry for BL cases between January 2000 and December 2011 were evaluated. The BL occurrence was manually worked out as the percentage of confirmed BL cases in relation to the total number of childhood tumours seen within that period.
Results: The occurrence of BL (among the 40 pediatric cancer cases) was 65%, meaning that it was more common than the other childhood tumours seen within the same period. It was also commoner in males than in females, and also more in the lower socio-economic class than in the middle and upper socio-economic classes as assessed by the occupation of the parents of the patients.
Conclusion: BL is a common childhood tumour in the tropics more commonly seen among the lower socio-economic group. Efforts should be made by caregivers to identify the disease in time for early treatment and follow-up because BL responds well to aggressive chemotherapy when started early.