Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive sporadic burkitt lymphoma: an age-related lymphoproliferative disorder?

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is detected in 20% to 30% of sporadic Burkitt lymphoma (sBL). However, only a few studies of EBV-positive (EBV) sBL have been reported, and its characteristics still remain controversial. To highlight the features of EBV sBL, we compared the clinicopathologic characteristics of 33 cases of EBV and 117 cases of EBV-negative (EBV) sBL in Japan. EBV sBL showed significantly higher age distribution (median, 42 vs. 13 y; P<0.0001) and higher frequency of patients older than 50 years (48% vs. 16%, P<0.0001). We also revealed the difference of the involved sites. The EBV group showed significantly higher incidence of involvement of tonsil (P=0.027), adrenal gland (P=0.011), and cervical lymph node (P=0.040). In addition, the EBV group tended to have higher incidence of nodal involvement (P=0.078) and involvement of para-aorta lymph node (P=0.084) and heart (P=0.050). In contrast, the gastrointestinal tract was less frequently affected in EBV sBL (P=0.024). In addition, the less positivity for MUM1 (P=0.020) of EBV sBL was highlighted. These results indicate that biological behavior and pathogenesis of EBV sBL might be different from those of EBV sBL. Our results demonstrate that EBV sBL has an aspect of age-related disease and is a distinct clinicopathologic subtype, which should be distinguished from EBV sBL.