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. 2025 Mar 26;17(3):e81219.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.81219. eCollection 2025 Mar.

Evaluation of the Incidence of Malignancy in Sjögren's Syndrome: A Single-Center Study From Turkey

Tugba Kahraman Denizhan  1 , Emel Oguz Kokoglu  1 , Melih Kızıltepe  1 , Celil B Cengiz  1 , Ismail H Tuncez  2 , Abdurrahman S Senel  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of the Incidence of Malignancy in Sjögren's Syndrome: A Single-Center Study From Turkey

Tugba Kahraman Denizhan et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Objective: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is known to be associated with an elevated cancer incidence. This study aimed to ascertain SS patients' cancer incidence rates and risk variables at a single center in Turkey.

Methods: The clinical data of SS patients were analyzed retrospectively. Cancer incidences for the overall population were obtained. The standardized incidence rates (SIRs) of hematological and solid cancers were calculated in comparison with the overall population.

Results: The study included 303 SS patients, of whom 27 (8.9%) were diagnosed with cancer. Twenty-one solid (6.9%) and six (2%) hematologic cancers were identified. The SIR for all cancers was 2.25 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.513-3.228). The SIR for hematologic cancers was 7.22 (95% CI 2.93-5.04), while the SIR for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), the most prevalent malignancy, was 11.76 (95% CI 3.73-28.38). The most prevalent malignancies were papillary thyroid and breast cancers, with a SIR of 3.04 (95% CI 1.937-4.58) for solid cancers. The SIR for both papillary thyroid and breast cancers was 8.43 (95% CI 3.689-16.68) and 1.85 (95% CI 0.687-4.105), respectively. A higher risk has also been linked to the presence of lymphopenia.

Conclusion: SS patients exhibit an increased risk of both solid and hematologic malignancies compared to the total population. This study reveals an increased risk of NHL and thyroid cancer in the Turkish population.

Keywords: cancer; incidence; lymphoma; malignancy; sjögren's syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Erciyes University Hospital Ethics Committee issued approval 2023/222. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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