PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cuttner, Janet
AU  - Spiera, Harry
AU  - Troy, Kevin
AU  - Wallenstein, Sylvan
TI  - Autoimmune disease is a risk factor for the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
DP  - 2005 Oct 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 1884--1887
VI  - 32
IP  - 10
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/32/10/1884.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/32/10/1884.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2005 Oct 01; 32
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of prior autoimmune disease to the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). METHODS: Patients with NHL (n = 278) seen from 1993 to 2002 were compared with a group of patients with other hematological disorders (controls, n = 317) seen at the same time. All patients were questioned about prior autoimmune disease. Comparisons between NHL patients and controls were based on analysis of a 2 2 table of counts using Fisher's exact test. Analysis of the effect of autoimmune disease on NHL status, controlling for other risk factors, was performed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Thirty-six (13%) NHL patients had a prior autoimmune disease compared to 5% of controls (p = 0.001). Sixty-nine percent of NHL patients with a prior autoimmune disease were female compared to 43% without a prior autoimmune disease, and this was similar in control patients, 69% and 48%, respectively. Twenty percent of all women with NHL had a history of autoimmune disease compared to 7% of women in the control group (p = 0.001). Nineteen of the NHL patients with autoimmune disease (56%) received immunosuppressive treatment compared to 5 (38%) in the controls. CONCLUSION: Autoimmune disease may account in part for the increase in NHL, especially in women.