Burkitt lymphoma is an aggressive cancer of the B cells of the immune system, named after the Irish surgeon Denis Burkitt. While working in Uganda he noticed an unusual jaw tumour among African children and, in 1958, published a description of the condition. By mapping where it occurred across tropical Africa, he showed that it was linked to regions with heavy malaria, and this pointed to an infectious factor. Later work by Anthony Epstein and colleagues found the Epstein-Barr virus in the tumour cells, the first human virus to be linked with cancer. Burkitt lymphoma is also one of the first cancers shown to be curable with chemotherapy alone, with drug combinations achieving high cure rates today.
Before and after
- 3 November 1957Launch of Sputnik 2
- 4 November 1957Birth of Tony Abbott
- 15 November 1957First flight of Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya
- 24 December 1957Birth of Hamid Karzai
- 1958Identification of Burkitt lymphoma
- 1958Creation of Lisp
- from 1958 to 1971United Arab Republic
- 1958Discovery of nobelium
- from 1958 to 1992Pioneer program
More in Science & technology
- 25 April 1953Watson and Crick publish the structure of DNA
- 1955Discovery of mendelevium
- 14 February 1961Discovery of lawrencium
- 1996Discovery of copernicium
- August 2003Discovery of moscovium
- 2006Discovery of nihonium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.