Antibodies to epstein-barr virus (EBV) in American patients with Burkitt's lymphoma

Twenty-nine American patients with lymphomas histologically indistinguishable from African Burkitt's lymphoma were studied for antibody to the EBV. Antibody titers were higher in the American Burkitt patients than agematched normal controls or patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), but they were not as high as the African Burkitt patients. All cases with typical histologic features and adequate pathologic material (including imprints) were positive for antibody to EBV. The young American Burkitt patients (less than 8 years old) had particularly high titers with a geometric mean titer of 1:425 compared to 1:11 for the matched ALL group and 1:4 for the normal controls. These studies indicate that American Burkitt patients, like those in Africa, have elevated EBV antibody levels and provide another similar parameter suggesting that American and African Burkitt's lymphoma are the same disease.