Denis Parsons Burkitt

Denis Parsons Burkitt
Born	28 February 1911 Enniskillen, Ireland
Died	23 March 1993 (aged 82) Gloucester, England
Nationality	British
Known for	Burkitt's lymphoma, Cancer
Awards	Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1972) Charles S. Mott Prize (1982) Buchanan Medal (1992) Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
Fields	Surgeon

Denis Parsons Burkitt, MD, FRCS(Ed), FRS^[1] (28 February 1911 – 23 March 1993) was an Irish surgeon who made significant advances in health, such as the aetiology of a pediatric cancer, now called Burkitt's lymphoma, and the finding that rates of colorectal cancer are higher in those who eat limited dietary fibre.

Burkitt was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. He was the son of James Parsons Burkitt, a civil engineer. Aged eleven he lost his right eye in an accident. He attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and Dean Close School, England. In 1929 Burkitt entered Trinity College, Dublin to study engineering, but believing his evangelical calling was to be a doctor, he transferred to medicine and graduated in 1935. In 1938 he passed the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh fellowship examinations. On 28 July 1943 he married Olive Rogers.^[2]

During World War II, Burkitt served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in England and later in Kenya and Somaliland. After the war, Burkitt decided his future lay in medical service in the developing world and he moved to Uganda. He eventually settled in Kampala and remained there until 1964.

Burkitt was president of the Christian Medical Fellowship and wrote frequently on religious/medical themes. In 1979, he became an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.^[3] He received the Bower Award and Prize in 1992. He died of a stroke on 23 March 1993 in Gloucester and was buried in Bisley, Gloucestershire, England.^[4]

Burkitt made two major contributions to medical science related to his experience in Africa.

The first was the description, distribution, and ultimately, the aetiology of a pediatric cancer that bears his name, Burkitt's lymphoma.^[5]

Burkitt in 1957 observed a child with swellings in the angles of the jaw. "About two weeks later ... I looked out the window and saw another child with a swollen face ... and began to investigate these jaw tumours."^[6] "Having an intensely enquiring mind, Burkitt took the details of these cases to the records department ... which showed that jaw tumours were common, [and] were often associated with other tumours at unusual sites"^[7] in children in Uganda. He kept copious notes and concluded that these apparently different childhood cancers were all manifestations of a single type of malignancy.^[8] Burkitt published A sarcoma involving the jaws of African children.^[9] The newly identified cancer became known as "Burkitt's lymphoma". He went on to map the geographical distribution of the tumour. Burkitt, together with Dennis Wright,^[10] published a book titled Burkitt's Lymphoma in April 1970.^[11]

His second major contribution came when, on his return to Britain, Burkitt compared the pattern of diseases in African hospitals with Western diseases. He concluded that many Western diseases which were rare in Africa were the result of diet and lifestyle. He wrote a book, Don't Forget Fibre in your Diet,^[12] which became an international bestseller.

Burkitt suggested that higher fibre intake can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. This was based on observations of the difference in patterns of diseases between Western and traditional African societies. Burkitt noted the lower rates of colorectal cancer in African countries compared to the West. He also found that African diets were generally higher in dietary fibre.^[13]

Recent research has found that "consuming 10 g more total dietary fibre a day is associated with an average 10% reduction in risk of colorectal cancer"^[14] and a diet high in dietary fibre is also advised as a precaution against other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.^[15]

A 72 minute documentary film exploring the life of Denis Burkitt, as told by filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana, a survivor of Burkitt's lymphoma, was released in Ireland in July 2024.^{[16] [17] [18]}

Academic journals

• Burkitt, D. P. (1972). "Varicose Veins, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Haemorrhoids: Epidemiology and Suggested Aetiology". British Medical Journal. 2 (5813): 556–561. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5813.556. PMC 1788140. PMID 5032782.
• Burkitt, D. P. (1973). "Some diseases characteristic of modern Western civilization". British Medical Journal. 1 (5848): 274–278. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5848.274. PMC 1588096. PMID 4568142.
• Burkitt, D. P. (1981). "Hiatus hernia: Is it preventable?". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 34 (3): 428–431. doi:10.1093/ajcn/34.3.428. PMID 6259926.

Books

• Burkitt, D. P.; Wright, D. H. (1970). Burkitt's Lymphoma. Livingstone. ISBN 0443007004. LCCN 72021505.^[19]
• Burkitt, D. P.; Trowell, H. C. (1981). Western diseases, their emergence and prevention. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-95020-7.
• Kellock B, Burkitt D. P. The Fibre Man: The Life-story of Dr. Denis Burkitt: Lion Pub.; 1985.

• Smith, Richard D. (4 March 1976). "Checking Out the Fiber Fad". The Sciences. 16 (2): 25–29. doi:10.1002/j.2326-1951.1976.tb01217.x.
• Cummings, John H.; Engineer, Amanda (June 2018). "Denis Burkitt and the origins of the dietary fibre hypothesis". Nutrition Research Reviews. 31 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1017/S0954422417000117. PMID 28583217. S2CID 21684191.
• Cummings, John H. (2022). Denis Burkitt. Springer Biographies. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88563-2. ISBN 978-3-030-88562-5. S2CID 246946174.

• A 1990 interview with Burkitt
• Burkitt's entry at Whonamedit?, a biographical dictionary of medical eponyms
• A portrait of Burkitt