The association of immune disease and malignant lymphoma

IN ADDITION to such well-recognized com-plications as hypogammaglobulinemia and hemolytic anemia (1-3), diffuse con-nective tissue disease and other disorders thought to be related to immune dis-turbances have been reported in associa-tion with malignant lymphomas (4-13). The finding of these types of abnormalities in patients with lymphoproliferative neo-plasms has led to the consideration that this association may be more than coinci-dental. T h e following is a report of 17 patients who presented evidence of both malignant lymphoma and immune dis-ease. The diagnoses were confirmed or changed, and the relationship of these dis