Population based study of prognostic factors and treatment in adult Burkitt lymphoma: a Swedish Lymphoma Registry study

Abstract

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a rare neoplasm constituting 1–2% of adult lymphomas. Our aims in this study were to establish prognostic factors for overall survival in adult BL and evaluate the efficacy of different chemotherapy regimens in a population based setting. The study population was collected from the Swedish Lymphoma Registry 2000–2010. During this period, 156 adult patients with BL were identified. In multivariate analysis, age and performance status (PS) were significant adverse prognostic factors for overall survival. A modified prognostic index, based on: age >40 years, PS >1, and lactate dehydrogenase > upper limit of normal (ULN) was proposed. Patients with a score of 0–1, 2, and 3 were found to have a 2-year survival of 91.2%, 58.4%, and 27.5%, respectively. High-intensity regimens were associated with more favorable overall survival. Rituximab addition was not significantly associated with improvement in survival. A modified prognostic index may be valuable for adult BL, as proposed.

Keywords::

• Burkitt lymphoma
• population
• adult
• chemotherapy
• rituximab

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