Can the c-myc translocation in Burkitt's lymphoma be hereditary at all?

Answer 1

No. The c-myc translocation is always a somatic event. Such a translocation, if inherited would be either lethal or lead to a congenital aberrancy of the immune system, like a lymphoproliferative autoimmune/immunodeficiency.

There has been one report in 1986 of two sisters with Burkitts in a family with lymphocyte abnormalities: Am J Med. 1986 Jul;81(1):158-62.Familial Burkitt's lymphoma. Association with altered lymphocyte subsets in

family members. Anderson KC, Jamison DS, Peters WP, Li FP.

This paper, however, did not find a hereditary 8;14 translocation. There is no followup to this paper, which suggests that the lymphocyte subset findings were not significant.

There is likely other reasons for this always being somatic; the regions of translocation, including a lambda immunoglobulin gene locus are more open in leukocyte lineages. It is likely only favored to promote growth in such lineages.

There is, however endemic Burkitts in Africa; this could well have the appearance of hereditary nature.