CSN-CommunityPost-Heavy antibiotics increase lymphoma risk

Using antibiotics in childhood may increase the chances of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is cancer which affects the body's lymphatic system.

Researchers found a marginally increased NHL chance in heavy users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, but no connection between the disease and any other types of medication. Given the increasing incidence of NHL, many studies have examined whether some medications enhance the risk of the disease. However, results have been inconclusive, with only strong immunosuppressive drugs consistently being tied to NHL. Because many medical conditions also may be associated with the NHL. The researchers found that the striking association between antibiotic use and NHL saw for all subtypes of the disease. High consumption of  NSAID  increased the overall risk of NHL and spread large B-cell NHL, but did not increase the likelihood of any other type of NHL. The increasing use of antibiotics in the 20th century could explain the rise in NHL cases if the drugs are responsible for the association observed. However, their study was unable to determine if antibiotics and NSAIDs affected risk apart from the underlying inflammation, infections or susceptibility to disease.

NOTE:-Biologic data support the hypothesis that antibiotic use is an indicator of infection and results in inflammation, that may increase the risk of NHL, and that high cumulative NSAID use is a marker of chronic inflammation.