ABCL-056: Outcome Predictors of Burkitt's Lymphoma in Children and Adolescents in Egypt: A Single-Center Study

Background: The outcome of childhood Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) has improved steadily over the past decades through the use of intensive sequential multi-agent chemotherapy regimens. Objective: This study's objective was to assess the outcome predictors of BL in children and adolescents. Methods: A retrospective study included all patients, 18 years old or younger, diagnosed with BL and treated according to the modified LMB 96 protocol at National Cancer Institute, Cairo University from January 2012 to December 2016 and their follow-up till December 2018. Results: A total of 170 patients were diagnosed with BL, with a median age of 5 years. Abdomen was the most common primary site (90.0%). Bone marrow involvement was encountered in 7 patients (4%), and 10 (6%) had central nervous system (CNS) disease at presentation. From the whole study cohort, 7 patients (4.1%) were treated as group A, 130 (76.5%) as group B, and 27 (15.9%) patients as group C. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were 82.9% and 82.8%, respectively, for the whole group. OS and EFS were 100%, 87.2%, and 57.7% for group A, B and C, respectively (P 10 days (P=0.020). A total of 39 deaths were reported, about 50% of them were defined as early deaths before 2nd induction, and 11 patients died due to disease progression. Conclusions: Outcome of BL was significantly affected by disease group, BM and/or CNS involvement, and early initiation of induction therapy. Early deaths and treatment-related toxic mortalities remain the major challenge affecting outcome in our patients.