Burkitt's lymphoma in Ghana: Clinical features and response to chemotherapy.

Abstract

The clinical presentation, response to chemotherapy, relapse pattern and prognosis in Burkitt's lymphoma were evaluated in a prospective manner in 54 patients. Cyclophosphamide induced complete clinical remission in over 75% of the patients irrespective of stage of the disease. Long-term sustained remissions, however, were mostly obtained in patients with localized disease (stage I-II). Patients with abdominal tumours (stage III), though showing good initial response to chemotherapy, had a high relapse rate, Intrathecal methotrexate transiently normalized cerebrospinal fluid cell counts in patients with malignant pleocytosis (stage IV). Early meningeal relapse was the rule and the patients did very poorly. Fifteen of the 54 patients have remained tumour-free and without recurrence for periods ranging from 1 to 2 years. Three patients who had tumour recurrences are also at present tumour-free after retreatment. Early tumour relapse was usually associated with a poor prognosis. The calculated long-term survival rate for all patients in the series was 33.1%.