The work may enable scientists to better understand and devise improved treatments for the disease. One may be linked with HIV, and the other one may be linked to genetic damage in Burkitt's lymphoma. There appears to be a causal relationship with HIV and there seems to be a causal relationship with an environmental factor responsible for the genetic damage. The report appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Pathology. It can help clinicians in every stage of the disease of Burkitt's lymphoma.
Medical oncologists can tailor the proper therapy according to the gene.
By knowing the different origins of the disease, we'll know better how to treat it. Most cases of Burkitt's lymphoma, which is endemic in central Africa, are believed to be caused by environmental factors, and have been associated with exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus. Burkitt's lymphoma often is caused by a genetic alteration - an exchange of genes in chromosomes. It predominantly affects young children. Dr. Giordano and his colleagues at Jefferson and at the University of Siena, Italy, Nairobi Hospital, and at the Institute of Normal and Pathologic Cytomorphology, CNR, in Bologna, Italy, examined the expression of Rb2 in 29 Burkitt's lymphoma patients.