Head, neck, and maxillofacial childhood Burkitt's lymphoma: a retrospective analysis of 31 patients.

Thirty-one children with Burkitt's lymphoma of the head, neck, and maxillofacial region diagnosed between 1976 and 1988 were reviewed. The age range was 2 to 17 years (median, 7.2 years), and 77.4% were males. The most common presenting symptoms were detectable masses, floating and/or painful teeth, enlarged cervical lymph nodes, sore throat, and neurologic signs. The predominant primary tumor sites were the jaws and tonsils. All patients were staged by a clinical staging system, 17 of them having stage I-II, and 14 stage III-IV. Levels of lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin were the only significant laboratory parameters correlating with initial staging and disease-free survival. Radiologic features in the jaws were poorly circumscribed destructive lytic lesions with migration and crypt destruction of unerupted teeth buds. Complete disappearance of these findings was noted after successful chemotherapy and clinical regression of the tumor. Eighteen (58.1%) patients attained complete remission with a follow-up of 5 to 100 months. Stage was the most significant variable affecting outcome, with 90.2% disease-free survival of stage I patients, 72.4% of stage II, and 18.2% of stage III-IV. Based on these results, it is concluded that localized (stage I and II) Burkitt's lymphoma is responsive to chemotherapy and thus has a favorable prognosis.