You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Concise report
Lymphoma in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis receiving methotrexate treatment: successful treatment with rituximab
  1. M Stewarta,
  2. V Malkovskab,
  3. J Krishnanc,
  4. L Lessinb,
  5. W Bartha
  1. aDepartment of Rheumatology, Washington Hospital Centre, Washington, DC, USA, bDepartment of Haematology-Oncology, Washington Hospital Centre, cJayashree Krishnan, Department of Pathology, Washington Hospital Centre
  1. Dr W F Barth, 2021 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006, USAwfbarth{at}worldnet.att.net

Abstract

A 55 year old man with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), treated for four years with methotrexate (MTX), who developed a B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL), is described. The tumour was localised to the shoulder and axillary lymph nodes, and positive for Epstein-Barr viral antigens. After failure of radiation and chemotherapy, a complete remission was achieved with a combination of antibody treatment (rituximab) and EPOCH. The development of a second malignancy in a patient with RA receiving MTX has not been described before. The summation of T cell deficiencies induced by MTX, CLL, and RA may all have contributed to the development of the B-NHL.

  • lymphoma
  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • methotrexate

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text