The Fine Structure of a Malignant Lymphoma in a Child from St. Louis, Missouri

Summary

Biopsy material from an intra-abdominal malignant lymphoma in a 2-year-old boy from St. Louis, Mo., was examined by light and electron microscopy. The predominant tumor cells had the ultrastructural characteristics of lymphoblasts, with scattered macrophages showing active phagocytosis of nuclear debris. Nuclear projections enclosing cytoplasmic material, identical to those described in cells of Burkitt's tumor from Ugandan patients, were observed in many lymphoblasts. The initial manifestations of the disease, histology of the tumor, and fine structure of the tumor cells were typical of Burkitt's lymphoma. The subsequent development of leukemia, common in childhood lymphosarcoma in the United States, is rarely encountered with Burkitt's tumor in Africa. These ultrastructural observations provide further evidence linking childhood lymphosarcoma of the lymphoblastic type in the United States with Burkitt's tumor in Africa.