Oncological diseases of the blood and lymph are the most dangerous: they are very aggressive, spread quickly through the body and are not amenable to treatment. That's why Burkitt's lymphoma is a big threat - not only is it a cancer that appears in the lymph nodes and spreads with lymph, so it also has a viral origin, and therefore they can get infected!
Diagnosis and symptoms of Burkitt's lymphoma
To be more precise, there is a possibility of infection not by lymphoma itself, but by the Epstein-Barr virus , which is also known as infectious mononucleosis. It affects blood and lymphatic cells, as a result of which some of them mutate and cause Burkitt's lymphoma. As a rule, thus, the disease develops in males with anomalies of genetic origin in the structure of cells responsible for immunoregulation in the X chromosome. This triggers a mitogenic stimulation mode - the leukocytes begin to mutate into malignant neoplasms. To date, there is no evidence that the Epstein-Bar virus is transmitted by airborne droplets, but it can be infected by exchanging fluids, for example - a kiss.
Also Burkitt's lymphoma can appear in people with AIDS and other disorders of the immune system. Some researchers believe that the disease has other causes, as evidenced by the fact that lymphoma is most common among Africans and Oceanians, usually children aged 2 to 7 years. The nature of the disease in this case remains unknown. Recently, Burkitt's lymphoma is increasingly found in North and Central America, and single cases of infection of Europeans have been reported. The majority of patients are men under 40 years of age, but women are also susceptible to the disease.
In the initial stage, Burkitt's lymphoma is asymptomatic. When mutated cells become too much, the patient may develop fever. Elevated temperature persists for several days, after which the condition is completely normalized. Most often the disease is localized in the region of the lower jaw and neck, with the time of neoplasms becomes more and more, they can be probed through the skin. In neglected cases, the structure of the face and even bones changes, the lymphoma affects the thyroid gland and can spread to other internal organs. In this case, numerous swelling are possible.
The main signs of lymphoma:
- temperature increase;
- general weakness and rapid weight loss;
- edema in the neck and lower jaw;
- throbbing pain in the lymph nodes.
Diagnosis of the disease using the analysis of pathogenic tissues. Biopsy is performed only in specialized clinics.
Burkitt's lymphoma - treatment and prognosis
Since the diagnosis of the disease is most often
If the lesions are well localized, you can risk surgical removal, but this is a controversial method - tumor cells will quickly spread to other organs. At the initial stages of the disease, their growth can be stopped with the help of point irradiation and repeated attacks by chemical substances. During treatment, the patient's immunity drops to a record low mark, so in the future it is necessary to concentrate all efforts on solving this problem. If this is not done in time, it is very likely that Burkitt's lymphoma recurs in the first 3 months after the end of therapy.