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Cancer Resources > Cancer News > Cancer News from Reuters > Reuters Cancer News > 2003 > November

Psoriasis increases risk of lymphoma

Last Updated: 2003-11-17 16:00:16 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The risk of developing a lymphoproliferative disease is tripled in patients age 65 and older who have psoriasis, investigators report.

Although several studies have examined the association of psoriasis with lymphoma, not all have documented increased risk, Dr. Joel M Gelfand and colleagues note in the November issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Therefore, the research team, based at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, randomly sampled 10% of subjects age 65 and above enrolled in the UK General Practice Research Database between 1988 and 1996.

Among approximately 108,000 patients followed for a median period of 46 months, 2.5% were diagnosed with psoriasis. The incidence of lymphoma was 18.3/10,000 person-years in the psoriasis group and 6.1/10,000 person-years in the nonpsoriasis group, translating to a relative risk of 2.95.

The absolute increase in cases -- 122 per year per 100,000 patients -- is small, the report indicates. The authors point out that the results were similar if they excluded from the analysis patients treated with methotrexate.

"Clinicians should consider the risks and benefits of long-term exposure to medications that may induce lymphomas in psoriasis patients who, at baseline, may have a higher incidence of lymphoproliferative malignancies," Dr. Gelfand's team concludes.

Arch Dermatol 2003;139:1425-1429.

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