Risks of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, and Leukemia Associated with Common Medications

• Published in: Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 1996-03, Vol.7 (2), p.131-139
• Main Authors: Doody, Michele Morin, Linet, Martha S., Glass, Andrew G., Curtis, Rochelle E., Pottern, Linda M., Rush, Brenda B., Boice, John D., Fraumeni, Joseph F., Friedman, Gary D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Amphetamines - administration & dosage; Amphetamines - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; Cancer; Case control studies; Chloramphenicol - administration & dosage; Chloramphenicol - adverse effects; Confidence Intervals; Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Female; Health Maintenance Organizations - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Leukemia; Leukemia - chemically induced; Leukemia - epidemiology; Lidocaine - administration & dosage; Lidocaine - adverse effects; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - chemically induced; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin - epidemiology; Male; Medical conditions; Medical records; Medical sciences; Medications; Meprobamate - administration & dosage; Meprobamate - adverse effects; Middle Aged; Mineral oils; Miscellaneous (drug allergy, mutagens, teratogens...); Multiple myeloma; Multiple Myeloma - chemically induced; Multiple Myeloma - epidemiology; Non Hodgkin lymphoma; Odds Ratio; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Prescription drugs; Risk
• ISSN: 1044-3983; 1531-5487
• DOI: 10.1097/00001648-199603000-00005

We utilized data from two Kaiser Permanente medical care programs to evaluate risks of hematopoietic and lymphoproliferative (HLP) malignancies after use of 14 common medications. The subjects were adult cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (N = 94), multiple myeloma (N = 159), and leukemia (N = 257) and individually matched controls (N = 695). Abstractors reviewed medical records and recorded medication notations. Using a minimum 5-year exposure lag between first notation and malignancy diagnosis, the risk of NHL was greater among plan members who were prescribed amphetamines [odds ratio (OR) = 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-4.8], lidocaine (OR = 2.6; 95% CI = 1.2-5.5), and meprobamate (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.03-4.3). The risk of NHL rose with increasing number of medical record notations for amphetamines; however, there was no association with number of notations for lidocaine or meprobamate. The odds ratio for total leukemia was decreased among patients who took chloramphenicol (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.2-0.97).