Skip to main content
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1977 May;35(5):668–673. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1977.102

Further studies of space-time clustering of Burkitt's lymphoma in Uganda.

R H Morrow, M C Pike, P G Smith
PMCID: PMC2025489  PMID: 861150

Abstract

All hospital-treated cases of Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), with onset of symptoms in the period 1963-68 and resident in the Lango and Acholi districts of Uganda, were identified. The average annual incidence of BL in the 6-year period was 1-87 X 10(-5), similar to that in the adjacent West Nile district. Contrary to findings in other areas of Uganda, there was no evidence of seasonal variation in the onset of cases, nor of space-time clustering, nor of a decline in the incidence of BL in the study period. An inverse relationship was noted between the median age at onset of BL and the incidence of the disease in different areas of Uganda, a finding consistent with intense malarial infection being a precipitating factor for BL. The variable observations with respect to space-time clustering of BL and seasonal variation in incidence in different areas remains unexplained, but it is suggested that a closer study of the patterns of malarial infection in these areas may help to account for the findings.

Full text

PDF
668

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brubaker G., Geser A., Pike M. C. Burkitt's lymphoma in the North Mara district of Tanzania 1964-70: failure to find evidence of time-space clustering in a high risk isolated rural area. Br J Cancer. 1973 Nov;28(5):469–472. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1973.175. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burkitt D. P. Etiology of Burkitt's lymphoma--an alternative hypothesis to a vectored virus. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1969 Jan;42(1):19–28. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burkitt D., Wright D. Geographical and tribal distribution of the African lymphoma in Uganda. Br Med J. 1966 Mar 5;1(5487):569–573. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5487.569. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cook P. J., Burkitt D. P. Cancer in Africa. Br Med Bull. 1971 Jan;27(1):14–20. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Henle G., Henle W., Clifford P., Diehl V., Kafuko G. W., Kirya B. G., Klein G., Morrow R. H., Munube G. M., Pike P. Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in Burkitt's lymphoma and control groups. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1969 Nov;43(5):1147–1157. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Morrow R. H., Kisuule A., Pike M. C., Smith P. G. Burkitt's lymphoma in the Mengo Districts of Uganda: epidemiologic features and their relationship to malaria. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1976 Mar;56(3):479–483. doi: 10.1093/jnci/56.3.479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Morrow R. H., Pike M. C., Smith P. G., Ziegler J. L., Kisuule A. Burkitt's lymphoma: a time-space cluster of cases in Bwamba County of Uganda. Br Med J. 1971 May 29;2(5760):491–492. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5760.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. O'Connor G. T. Persistent immunologic stimulation as a factor in oncogenesis, with special reference to Burkitt's tumor. Am J Med. 1970 Mar;48(3):279–285. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(70)90057-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pike M. C., Williams E. H., Wright B. Burkitt's tumour in the West Nile District Uganda, 1961-5. Br Med J. 1967 May 13;2(5549):395–399. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5549.395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Williams E. H., Day N. E., Geser A. G. Seasonal variation in onset of Burkitt's lymphoma in the West Nile District of Uganda. Lancet. 1974 Jul 6;2(7871):19–22. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91350-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Williams E. H., Spit P., Pike M. C. Further evidence of space-time clustering of Burkitt's lymphoma patients in the West Nile District of Uganda. Br J Cancer. 1969 Jun;23(2):235–246. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1969.33. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. zur Hausen H., Schulte-Holthausen H., Klein G., Henle W., Henle G., Clifford P., Santesson L. EBV DNA in biopsies of Burkitt tumours and anaplastic carcinomas of the nasopharynx. Nature. 1970 Dec 12;228(5276):1056–1058. doi: 10.1038/2281056a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES