Obesity and the risk of Hodgkin lymphoma (United Kingdom).

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and obesity.

METHODS

A population-based case-control study recruited incident cases of lymphoma in England during 1998-2003. Information on height and weight was collected from 216 cases with a histologically confirmed incident diagnosis of HL and their age- and sex-matched controls.

RESULTS

Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 kg m(-2) or above at 5 years prior to diagnosis, increased the risk of HL more than 2-fold compared to those in the normal range of 18.5-<25 kg m(-2) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.2, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1, 4.3). The association was more prominent among men (OR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.5) than women (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.3, 3.8). Elevated risks tended to be among older (aged 36-50 and 51-69) rather than younger persons (aged < or =35 years), and for EBV-ve, rather than EBV+ve, HL.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that obesity may increase the risk of HL, particularly among men. Further investigations are needed to confirm these findings.