Also caused by EBV

In Central Africa, it causes a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that originates from B lymphocytes and invades non-lymph node regions, such as the brain, cerebrospinal fluid, blood, and bone marrow.

It is not understood why the EBV causes infectious mononucleosis in the United States and this very serious lymphoma in central Africa.

Burkitt Lymphoma is not infectious

Chemotherapy can offer a cure in 70% of cases if caught early.

The Myc gene activates transcription of genes in the nucleus. This is similar in function to the Fos gene and the Jun gene. The Myc gene, when mutated, leads to Burkitt's Lymphoma.

Burkitt's Lymphoma is a B-cell tumor of the jaw that has an unusual geographical distribution; it is th emost common tumor of children in equatorial Africa but is rare elsewhere. In most tumors of this type, the MYC proto-oncogene is translocated from its normal chromosomal position at 8q24 to a position distal to the immunoglobin heavy-chain locus at 14q32. Cytogenetically, this mutation is seen as an apparently balanced 8;14 translocation. The translocation presumably brings enhancer or other transcriptional activating sequences, normally associated with the immunoglobulin genes, near to the MYC gene. Supporting hypothesis is the finding that other translocations observed in a smaller proportion of Burkitt lymphoma cases involve translocating immunoglobulin light-chain genes on chromosome 22 and 2 near to the MYC gene. In either case, these translocations clearly have an important effect on the MYC gene, allowing its unregulated expression and resulting in uncontrolled cell growth. The function of the Myc protein is still not entirely known, but it appears to be a trasncription factor with powerful effects on the expression of a number of genes involved in cellular proliferation as well as on telomerase expression.