Antibiotics linked to lymphoma

USING antibiotics in childhood has been linked to an increased risk of developing cancer in adulthood, according to new research. Doctors have been looking for answers to explain the steady rise in cases of lymphoma, cancer of the lymph glands, part of the body’s immune system. They delved into the medical records of thousands of patients who developed lymphoma and were able to establish a link with antibiotic use. Doctors discovered that using antibiotics more than ten times in childhood increases the likelihood of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) , the commonest type of lymphoma. The researchers think the risk of developing lymphoma due to antibiotic use is yet further confirmation that lymphoma may be triggered by a tendency to be vulnerable to infections in childhood and young adulthood. Dr Ellen Chang of the Northern California Cancer Centre also found a marginally increased NHL risk among heavy users of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, but no association between the disease and any other types of medication. Dr Chang and her team reported their findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology. They were not able to establish what trigger — if any — may be responsible for making patients on antibiotic treatment more susceptible to lymphoma. But, curiously, they think that the antibiotics themselves are unlikely to be the reason. Instead, highlevel use of antibiotics may simply indicate which children are vulnerable to picking up repeated infections.