In some types of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) there is a change in the genetic blueprint of the lymphoma cancer cells. This 'genetic blueprint' is made up of genes, the genetic building blocks that carry the information that we use to make every cell in our body. Genes affect how our bodies grow, work and look. All of this information is stored on 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus inside all the cells in our bodies. Each pair of chromosomes is numbered, 1 to 22, with the last two chromosomes being the sex chromosomes X and Y.

There are a number of different genetic changes that can be seen in lymphoma cells. Sometimes there may be an extra copy of a chromosome. In other cases pieces of a chromosome may be removed, or duplicated, or even moved from one chromosome to another. The vast majority of changes to the genes develops after birth ie they are not inherited.

One of these changes is the ‘T eleven fourteen’ which is written t(8;14). Here a piece of chromosome 8 has been swapped with a piece of chromosome 14. Because of this the cells produce too much of a gene called c-myc. C-myc plays a part how the cells reproduce themselves and the overproduction of c-myc causes the uncontrolled growth of these lymphoma cells.

People with a t(8;14) usually have a particular type of NHL called Burkitt lymphoma. This can be seen when the affected lymph cells are looked at under a microscope. Occasionally other genetic changes are seen with Burkitt lymphoma linking the c-myc gene on chromosome 8 to other genes that are important in the normal development of lymphocytes on chromosome numbers 2 or 22; these are called the t(2;8) and t(8;22) changes.

Burkitt's lymphoma is most often seen in children in central Africa and is very rare in adults in Europe and America. In African children the conditon is usually quite easily cured by chemotherapy. In adults Burkitt lymphoma is usually much more aggressive and needs intensive chemotherapy. This leads to a cure in about half of the patients who are treated.