Musculoskeletal syndromes associated with malignancies

Literature on the association of malignancies with various rheumatic disorders published over the past year is summarized in this review. The possible roles of methotrexate treatment in predisposing to the development of lung cancer and Felty's syndrome in predisposing to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in rheumatoid arthritis patients are discussed. The increased occurrence of monoclonal gammopathies and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in patients with Sjögren's syndrome is reported. The possible increased frequency of malignancies among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, and polymositis-dermatomyositis is revisited; of interest, the overlapping clinical features of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and SLE are presented, as well as the increased occurrence of ovarian cancer in patients (especially older women) with dermatomyositis. The proceedings of the first International Workshop on Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy, as well as the association of this syndrome with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the childhood years, are presented. Finally, postchemotherapy and post-bacille Calmette-Guérin rheumatism are described.