Burkitt’s HIV-associated Lymphoma — Mechanism Of The Development Revealed

The risk of developing Burkitt's lymphoma is extremely high at the terminal stages of HIV according to the results of a Russian study conducted by a group of scientists from the MSU's A.N. Belozersky Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology.

Complex ARV therapy, as it follows from the article, significantly increases the survival rates and quality of life of HIV-positive patients, but does not protect them from such severe complications. The fact is that Burkitt’s lymphoma — malignant degeneration of B-lymphocytes — is not accompanied by infecting of such B-cells.

According to Dr. Vasetsky, Burkitt’s lymphoma develops as a result of translocation of genes when errors can occur in case 8 and 14 chromosomes break. The researcher believes the appearance of a hybrid chromosome in the genome is the central cause of malignant cell degeneration

Biologists have clearly demonstrated that the viral protein 'Tat' protein that can be found in the blood of people living with HIV can severely distort the spatial organization of the B-lymphocyte nucleus which in turn causes the convergence of parts in chromosomes 8 and 14 increasing the risk of oncogenic transformation.

The results of the study, the authors conclude, significantly increased their understanding of carcinogenesis among people living with HIV. They believe the results of the research will be used in the future studies to improve the quality of prevention of Burkitt's lymphoma among HIV+.