Lymphoproliferative malignancy in rheumatoid arthritis: a study of 20 cases.
A series of 20 patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis who subsequently developed a lymphoproliferative malignancy are described. The mean time between the onset of the 2 diseases was 13.2 years. A wide range of types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease were found; there were no unusual histological features in the lymphomas. Although many of the patients had had gold, penicillamine, and other second-line drugs, none of them had received cytotoxic drugs, and there was no evidence that therapy was a cause of their malignancies. The likely cause of the association is a predisposition to both diseases.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000209:etiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged