# Burkitt's lymphoma in a young boy progressing to systemic lupus erythematosus during follow-up: a case report and literature review

## TL;DR

A young boy with Burkitt's lymphoma later developed systemic lupus erythematosus, highlighting a possible link between these two conditions.

## Contribution

This case report highlights a rare instance of SLE following childhood lymphoma, suggesting a potential shared mechanism involving B-cell activity.

## Key findings

- A 2.6-year-old boy was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma and later developed SLE five years post-treatment.
- The case suggests a possible common mechanism involving B-cell cloning and proliferation linking lymphoma and SLE.
- The patient remained cancer-free and showed no SLE disease activity at the final follow-up.

## Abstract

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at a higher risk of developing cancer, particularly hematological malignancies such as lymphoma and leukemia. However, existing studies on this topic that assess cancer incidence following SLE diagnosis are limited. In addition, SLE can be diagnosed after cancer, although such cases in children have been rarely reported.

We present the case of a 2.6-year-old boy who presented to our institute with fever and abdominal pain. His physical examination revealed a periumbilical mass, which was pathologically diagnosed as Burkitt's lymphoma. Autologous stem cell transplantation was performed to consolidate the effect of chemotherapy and reduce the risk of cancer relapse. He was diagnosed with SLE 5 years later, following the presentation of a fever with rash, positive autoantibodies, decreased complement, and kidney involvement. At the final follow-up, the patient was still alive and showed no recurrence of Burkitt's lymphoma or disease activity of SLE.

Despite the low frequency of SLE in children with lymphoma, cancer and SLE may be induced by a common mechanism involving B-cell cloning and proliferation. Therefore, hematologists and rheumatologists should be aware of the occurrence of these two conditions during patient follow-up.