Associations attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for steroid use
TUESDAY, Dec. 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The risk for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is increased in association with immunosuppression, allergic disease, and eczema, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Meena Rafiq, from University College London, and colleagues examined the risk for HL associated with allergic disease and corticosteroid use in a case-control study using the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to hospital data. Data were included for 1,236 cases of HL and 7,416 matched controls.
The researchers found that immunosuppression was associated with increased odds of HL (adjusted odds ratio, 6.18), with minimal change after adjustment for steroid use. The odds of HL were increased with any prior allergic disease or eczema alone (adjusted odds ratio, 1.41 for both). After adjustment for steroid use, these associations were attenuated but remained significant (adjusted odds ratios, 1.25 and 1.27, respectively). No effect modification was seen by steroid use. The odds of HL were increased in association with previous steroid treatment (adjusted odds ratio, 1.38).
“These findings add to the growing evidence that immune dysregulation is central to the development of HL in early life and allergic disease in childhood may increase the risk of developing hematological malignancies in the future,” the authors write.
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