Numb Chin Syndrome as a Primary Symptom of Burkitt Lymphoma

Numb chin syndrome (NCS) is a sensory neuropathy characterized by numbness involving the distribution of the mental nerve. Although rare, NCS is very important because it could be the first and only symptom of an underlying malignancy. Therefore, primary care physicians should pay attention to middle-aged persons or cancer-treated persons who complain of unilateral numbness of the lip or chin, and consider malignant etiology until proven otherwise. In this article we describe a 54-year-old man complaining of numbness of the right side of his chin due to peripheral spread of Burkitt lymphoma, and provide review of several articles.