Steatorrhea and malignant lymphoma the relationship of malignant tumors of lymphoid tissue and celiac disease

Coeliac disease, gluten-free diet, and malignancy.

“…It may therefore be asked whether they are also protected from developing malignancy. Austad et al (1967) suggested that lymphoid hyperactivity in the jejunal mucosa of patients with coeliac disease may give rise to an increased incidence of malignancy, presumably on the grounds that the more mitoses occurring the greater the chance of mutant cells arising. It is also pertinent that there is a significant reduction of cells after gluten withdrawal (Holmes et al, 1974), which might suggest therefore a lessened risk of malignancy.…”

Hairy-Cell Leukemia Complicating Coeliac Disease: Report of a Case and Discussion of Possible Pathogenetic Mechanisms

“…The possibility that the develop ment of a neoplasia should be considered as a complication and not a simple asso ciation with CD was first suggested by Gough et al [10], and subsequently con firmed by others [2,4,13,15]. A secondary lymphoid or epithelial neoplasia, both of the gastrointestinal tract and of other or gans, may develop in 10-28% of cases of CD [5,8,11], Malignant histiocytosis seems to account for the majority (89.9%) of lymphomas associated with CD [16].…”

Coeliac Disease

“…because the overall synthesis rate of IgM in coeliac disease is reduced (Brown et al, 1969), probably reflecting the general depression of lymphoreticular dys function in this disease. It is tempting to speculate that this may be an important factor in untreated patients, in whom there is a greatly increased incidence of lymphoma and intestinal neoplasia (Gough et al, 1962;Austad et aL, 1967;Harris et al, 1967).…”