RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS AND CANCER RISK

The aim of this study was to examine the cancer pattern in a large gro up of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A follow-up study of ca ncer incidence in RA was conducted within a cohort of 20 699 patients recorded in the Danish Hospital Discharge Register during 1977-1987 by linkage with the Danish Cancer Registry through 1991. There were cons istent excesses of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease in bot h sexes and during both early and late periods of follow-up. Risks for lung cancer and non-melanoma skin cancer were also increased, with no predilection for any specific histological subtype, while risks for c olorectal cancer and female breast cancer were reduced. The cancer pat tern seen among Danish RA patients largely supports findings from two earlier Nordic investigations. Thus, there seem to be consistent posit ive associations between RA and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's dise ase and lung cancer and a consistent negative association with colorec tal cancer. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd