[Exposure to animals and non-Hodgkin lymphomas: pilot analysis about 261 cases]

This study investigated a possible link between the occupational or domestic exposure to animals and a histological subgroup of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (LNH) (diffuse large B-cell lymphomas [LDGCB], follicular lymphomas [LF], indolent non-follicular LNH [LNHINF] and T-cell LNH). This retrospective, descriptive study was carried out over one year in a regional cancer research center. Data on occupational and domestic exposures to animals, from patients treated for a LNH, was collected via a questionnaire. Among the 261 participants, 73.9% reported they had been exposed to animals, 5% were exposed at work, whereas 72.4% were exposed in a domestic setting. The occupational exposure tended to be more frequent in the subgroup of patients with a LF (P = 0.06). The domestic exposure was less frequent (P = 0.04) in patients with LDGCB (63.0%) than in patients with a small cell LNH B (LF and LNHINF) (76.0%). Although there was no obvious link between occupational or domestic exposure to animals and one of the four histological subgroups of LNH, domestic exposure seemed less common among LDGCB patients. These results need to be confirmed by further studies.