A single-institution case series of patients with cutaneous melanoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Abstract

Background: Over the past two decades, cutaneous melanoma (CM) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) have both experienced unabated increases in incidence. Population-based studies have documented an elevated risk of subsequent NHL among patients with CM and vice versa. Methods: To better characterize the clinical features of patients who have had both malignancies, we retrospectively identified all patients with CM at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who subsequently had NHL and all NHL patients who later developed CM. Results: A total of 2461 CM and 2708 NHL patients were registered at MGH between 1973 and 1998. Out of these groups, 10 CM patients (0.4%) eventually developed NHL and 11 NHL patients (0.4%) subsequently had CM. The mean age at the first CM diagnosis was 56 years, wheras the mean age at the first NHL diagnosis was 67 years. The mean interval to NHL among the CM group was 119 months, whereas the mean interval to CM among the NHL patients was 36 months. All primary CMs were relatively thin (0.95 mm, first diagnosis; 1.07 mm, second diagnosis), and most NHL subtypes were indolent in nature. Conclusion: The rates of developing a second NHL among CM patients and vice versa are low. Any interactions between CM and NHL may be due to factors such as detection bias, shared environmental ultraviolet carcinogenesis, or possibly, posttreatment effects. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:55-61.)