We examined chromosomes, surface immunoglobulins (SIg) and EBV-determined nuclear antigen (EBNA) in five Japanese patients with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL). Three patients had a translocation, t (8; 14) (q24; q32). One other patient had a 14q+ chromosome but the origin of the translocated segment in this patient could not be determined. The other patient had a variant translocation, t (2; 8) (p11; q24). These abnormalities are the same as those which have been reported in endmic as well as in nonendemic BL. Four patients had additional abnormalities, including a partial duplication of the long arm of a No. 1 or a partial deletion of the long arm of a No. 6 chromosome (6q-). The latter finding confirms the earlier observation that not only patients with T cell or null cell but also ones with B cell lymphoma-leukemia can have a 6q- chromosome. Three patients with the t (8; 14) were all children. Their tumor cells had SIgM but did not harbor EBNA. The patient with the unidentified 14q+ was diagnosed having B cell ALL-L 3. In the patient with t (2; 8), no SIg light chain was detected on the surface of the tumor cells, while EBNA was present in them. The variant translocation t (2; 8) suggests that the break at 8q24 is more important than that at 14q32 in the genesis of BL. Possible difference in the histology, clinical features and prognosis between BL's with t (8; 14) and those with a variant translocation remains to be elucidated.
