EBV Conference 2008 Guangzhou - Baylor College of Medicine

184 (RegID: 1156)
Beverly Smith Dougall
Imperial College, Medical School
E-mail: b.griffin@imperial.ac.uk
EBV-ASSOCIATED BURKITT'S LYMPHOMA (BL) IN MALAWI, EAST AFRICA: GENE
EXPRESSION, DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY
Beverly E. Griffin1, 4, Susan van Noorden2, I.A. Lampert2, S-A Xue3 and J.A. Phillips4. Imperial
College School of Medicine at St. Mary’s1 and at Hammersmith Hospitals2, University College
Medical School3, London U.K., and the BL unit, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Malawi4
Posterabstract:
A major study on BL in Malawi, East Africa, over the past twenty years, will be presented. Briefly:
this EBV-associated malignancy remains the major childhood cancer seen in Malawi, and patient
numbers are high; about 60% of confirmed BL cases, whether facial or abdominal, respond to
classical multidose treatment with cyclophosphamide; therapy for the others is generally unsuccessful.
Qualitatively, EBV gene expression varies among the tumours. Our chief aims over the past twenty
years have focused on: trying to understand the differences, at a molecular level, between BL patients
that respond to the chemotherapy and those that do not; seeking markers to aid in determining
optimal management of patients; and, identifying an alternative therapeutic regiment that can be used
to combat the tumour in non-responding patients. We will present data on all three topics.
Our current focus for alternative treatment of the non-responding tumours is based on a small
preliminary pilot study of children with gross, cyclophosphamide-resistant multiple lesions. Sodium
phenylbutyrate), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, was added to the treatment protocol for
these patients. This HDAC was chosen for its simple chemistry which suggests that it could
ultimately be made cheaply for Africa, its multiple functions, particularly those associated with
promotion of cell differentiation, and its established safety in the treatment of another disease (urea
disorder) of children. Our data, to be presented, are encouraging, proving positive for half the treated
children. They further highlight differences that exist, moreover, among the tumour populations.
EBV Conference 2008 Guangzhou
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