Neoplastic disorders in 100 patients with adult celiac disease

Previous reports have suggested that the incidence of some neoplastic disorders, particularly malignant lymphoma, is increased in patients with celiac disease. In this study, the type and number of neoplastic disorders detected in 100 consecutive celiac disease patients were explored, Sixty-five patients were initially diagnosed with celiac disease before, and 35 after, age 60 years. Ten elderly celiac patients had lymphoma or small intestinal adenocarcinoma. Although the overall incidence of malignant lymphoma was 8%, similar to that in other centres, the incidence in elderly celiac patients was 23% in this study. Celiac disease was detected before or after the diagnosis of lymphoma or small intestinal adenocarcinoma. In some patients, epithelial lymphocytosis was evident in the gastric, colonic or biliary tract epithelium. In addition, other immune mediated disorders, dermatitis herpetiformis and autoimmune thyroiditis, were common. Finally, other malignant disorders of the esophagus, stomach and colon were not detected.