Crouch S, Simpson J, Ansell P, Kane E, Howell D, Smith A, Newton R, Jack A, Roman E. Illness patterns prior to diagnosis of lymphoma: analysis of UK medical records.
Cancer Epidemiol 2010;
35:145-50. [PMID:
20832384 DOI:
10.1016/j.canep.2010.08.003]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2010] [Revised: 07/20/2010] [Accepted: 08/06/2010] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Increased understanding of the relationship between lymphomas and co-morbidities is likely to provide valuable insights into the natural history of these disorders.
METHODS
761 cases with lymphoma (310 diffuse large B-cell [DLBCL]; 226 follicular [FL]; and 225 Hodgkin [HL]) and 761 unaffected age and sex matched controls were recruited and their histories of infection and non-infection diagnoses in primary care records were compared using negative binomial regression.
RESULTS
No differences were observed between the infectious illness patterns of DLBCL and FL cases and their matched controls over the 15 years preceding lymphoma diagnosis. A marked excess of infectious illness episodes was recorded for HL cases compared to their controls; evident at least a decade prior to HL diagnosis. For non-infectious consultations an excess of case over control visits emerged 4-6 years before DLBCL and FL diagnosis; no specific co-morbidity associations were found. No case-control differences for non-infectious conditions were apparent for HL.
CONCLUSION
There are substantial variations in patterns of illness prior to diagnosis of the three lymphoma subtypes examined. The excess of infectious diagnoses prior to HL may point to underlying immune abnormality, but there was no suggestion of this for DLBCL and FL where a generalized excess of non-infectious conditions was evident.
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