Burkitt Lymphoma is the most common and fastest growing of all cancers diagnosed in Africa. Without prompt treatment it is universally fatal, but with 6 cycles of standard chemotherapy it is curable in >95% of cases. The cost of this treatment is around $1,000 per case, compared to several hundred thousand in the US. Despite the relative reduced cost of treatment in Africa, families in Mali live on less than $1-2/day and are unable to pay this amount of money. Brett and Sheri MacLean have a cancer fund that helps to provide this needed treatment.
Since the MacLeans returned to Mali on Feb 15th, 4 new cases of Burkitt Lymphoma have been diagnosed and all of the patients are improving with treatment. The pictures below show how quickly these tumors (typically of the face) grow.
Mamadou, below in the Africa United shirt, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma during my last trip to Mali (see post from Aug 2011). This picture was taken recently when he was visiting the hospital with his younger brother. He is cured of his cancer and doing well!
What a joy it must be to you to observe these miracles and know that you have had a part in the work being done there in Mali!
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