Characteristics of the 38 lymphoma cases
| All lymphoma (n = 38) | Lymphoma in RA patients (n = 27) | |
| Age, years | 61.3 (SD 12.3) (63.5) | 63.4 (SD 11.8) (64.0) |
| Sex, female | 17 (44.7%) | 15 (55.6%) |
| Underlying inflammatory disease | ||
| RA | 27 (71.0%) | 27 |
| Ankylosing spondylitis | 4 (10.5%) | |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 3 (7.9%) | |
| Crohn’s disease | 3 (7.9%) | |
| Primary Sjögren’s syndrome | 1 (2.6%) | |
| Duration of the underlying inflammatory disease before the first symptoms of lymphoma, years | 11.0 (SD 8.6) (8.9) | 11.3 (SD 9.0) (8.2) |
| Activity of the underlying inflammatory disease at the time of diagnosis of lymphoma | ||
| Null | 9 (26.5%) | 7 (29.2%) |
| Fair | 8 (23.5%) | 5 (20.8%) |
| Moderate | 7 (20.6%) | 5 (20.8%) |
| High | 10 (29.4%) | 7 (29.2%) |
| Lymphoma histological subtype | ||
| Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma | 31 (81.6%) | 22 (81.5%) |
| B-cell lymphoma | 26 (83.9%) | 20 (74.1%) |
| Diffuse large B-cell | 14 | 11 |
| Follicular B-cell | 4 | 3 |
| Marginal zone B-cell | 2 | 1 |
| Lymphocytic | 2 | 1 |
| Others | 4 | 4 |
| T-cell lymphoma | 5 (16.1%) | 2 (7.4%) |
| Pleiomorphic T-cell | 3 | 2 |
| Sezary T-cell | 1 | 0 |
| Lymphoblastic T-cell | 1 | 0 |
| Hodgkin’s and Hodgkin’s-like lymphoma | 7 (18.4%) | 5 (18.5%) |
| Hodgkin-like | 2 | 1 |
| Scleronodular | 2 | 1 |
| Mixed cellularity | 3 | 3 |
| Anti-TNF treatment | ||
| No of anti-TNF agents received | ||
| 1 | 31 (81.6%) | 20 (74.1%) |
| 2 | 6 (15.8%) | 6 (22.2%) |
| 3 | 1 (2.6%) | 1 (3.7%) |
| First anti-TNF agent received | ||
| Adalimumab | 8 (21.0%) | 8 (29.6%) |
| Etanercept | 11 (29.0%) | 8 (29.6%) |
| Infliximab | 19 (50.0%) | 11 (40.7%) |
| Last anti-TNF agent received | ||
| Adalimumab | 12 (31.6%) | 12 (44.4%) |
| Etanercept | 7 (18.4%) | 4 (14.8%) |
| Infliximab | 19 (50.0%) | 11 (40.7%) |
| Ever used adalimumab | 12 (31.6%) | 12 (44.4%) |
| Ever used etanercept | 13 (34.2%) | 10 (37.0%) |
| Ever used infliximab | 21 (55.3%) | 13 (48.1%) |
| Ever used infliximab or adalimumab | 32 (84.2%) | 24 (88.9%) |
| Time since first anti-TNF treatment began,† months | 27.0 (SD 16.7) (23.6) | 29.2 (SD 17.2) (25.6) |
| Time since last anti-TNF treatment began,† months | 23.7 (SD 16.0) (22.7) | 24.6 (SD 16.6) (22.5) |
| DMARD use during the last 5 years | ||
| Methotrexate | 27 (71.1%) | 23 (85.2%) |
| Azathioprine | 3 (7.9%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Leflunomide | 7 (18.4%) | 7 (25.9%) |
Continuous variables are mean (SD) (median). Categorised variables are numbers (%). †Time from onset of the first/last anti-TNF treatment to first symptoms of lymphoma. DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.