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. 2020 Jul;6(2):e001241.
doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001241.

Trends of lymphoma incidence in US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis, 2002-2017

Namrata Singh  1 , Yubo Gao  2   3 , Elizabeth Field  2   4 , Brian K Link  5 , Noel Weiss  6 , Jeffrey R Curtis  7 , Charles F Lynch  8 , Mary Vaughan-Sarrazin  3   4
Affiliations

Trends of lymphoma incidence in US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis, 2002-2017

Namrata Singh et al. RMD Open. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: Past epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated a link between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the incidence of lymphoma and it has been posited that high systemic inflammatory activity is a major risk determinant of lymphomagenesis. Given advances in the therapeutic armamentarium for RA management in recent years, the resulting lower level of disease activity could have led to a decline in lymphoma incidence in patients with RA. This study examined recent trends in lymphoma incidence in US veterans with RA.

Methods: Patients with RA were identified in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse. Lymphoma incidence was identified through the end of 2018 from the VA Central Cancer Registry and compared among patients diagnosed during 2003-2005, 2006-2008, 2009-2011 and 2012-2014.

Results: Among persons diagnosed with RA during 2003-2005, the incidence of lymphoma in the next 6 years was 2.0 per 1000 person-years. There was a steady decline in lymphoma incidence during the corresponding 6 years following diagnosis in the subsequent three cohorts, with a rate of 1.5 per 1000 person-years in the 2012-2014 cohort (incidence relative to that in the 2003-2005 cohort=0.79 (95% CI 0.58 to 1.1)). There was no similar decline in lymphoma incidence in VA patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

Conclusion: We observed a decline in lymphoma incidence in recent years among American veterans with RA. Further studies are needed to evaluate the specific factors driving this decline.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Rheumatoid Arthritis; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in RA and OA. The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma decreased over 2003–2014 timespan for subjects with RA (●, p=0.014, Pearson correlation) but not OA (○, p=0.96, Pearson correlation). Figure shows linear regression (black) and 95% confidence band (blue) for RA (solid, R2=0.97) and OA (dashed, R2=0.002) subjects. OA, osteoarthritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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