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The center for global health of the National Cancer Institute has awarded funding for the research plan proposed by UNC/LCCC and Baylor College of Medicine.The proposal has three aims, all to promote clinical research on pediatric Burkitt Lymphoma in Malawi and strengthen collaboration between low- and middle income countries.The award period is two years.

The first aim is to develop a scoring system for pathologic Burkitt Lymphoma diagnoses in Malawi based on previous cases, and validate it with newly enrolled patients. This should yield a diagnostic scoring system with the methods that are actually available in Malawi, so that treatment can be assigned more specifically to each patient.

The second aim is to determine what methotrexate dose is tolerated by pediatric patients with Burkitt Lymphoma. The frequent co-occurrence of malnutrition and scarcity of supportive care in this region influence the optimal dose in this setting, but by how much is unknown. By systematic dose escalation the dose with the highest effect but without high toxicity for this group will be found. This could lead to valuable information for all of sub-Sahara Africa.

The third aim is to compare standards of care for pediatric Burkitt Lymphoma between Malawi, Uganda, and Kenya. By developing a centralized database with key variables and increased collaboration with these sites the effect of different treatment options can be monitored. This will also create a network of Burkitt Lymphoma treatment centers in the region.

The reviewers of the Center for Global Health wrote that the research proposal strongly aligns with the Center’s strategic priorities.