Burkitt’s lymphoma of maxillary gingiva: A case report

Abstract

Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma with three variants namely endemic, sporadic, and immunodeficiency-associated types. It is endemic in Africa and sporadic in other parts of the world. While the endemic form is widely reported to occur in early childhood and commonly involves the jaw bones, the sporadic form typically presents as an abdominal mass. This presentation reports a rare case of sporadic form of BL clinically manifesting as a generalized gingival enlargement in an immunocompetent adult male which demonstrated an aggressive behavior. The patient reported with a prominent anterior gingival swelling of 6 mo duration which slowly enlarged in size and associated with multiple lymph node involvement. Microscopic examination of the lesion using H, E and immunohistochemical diagnosis confirmed the diagnosis as BL. The patient succumbed to the disease before any therapy could be instituted. Since a wide array of causes can be attributed to gingival enlargements, it is necessary to consider malignancies as one of the important differential diagnosis so as to facilitate the need for appropriate diagnosis and prompt treatment.

Keywords: Lymphoma; Diagnosis; Differential; Non-Hodgkin’s; Gingival overgrowth; Prognosis; Pathology; Oral; Immunohistochemistry

Core tip: Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma with three variants namely endemic, sporadic, and immunodeficiency-associated types. It is endemic in Africa and sporadic in other parts of the world. We report a rare case of sporadic BL presenting as generalized gingival enlargement. The purpose of this case report is to illustrate the fact that gingival enlargements may be caused by any benign non-neoplastic lesions or aggressive malignancies like BL and bespeaks the need for prompt recognition and life-saving referral by the dental practitioner.