In the new study, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, studied approximately 9,000 sarcoidosis patients, and found that patients with sarcoidosis appear to be at increased risk for cancer, predominantly in the organs often affected by sarcoidosis. For clinicians, our findings may result in increased attention paid to patients reporting a history of sarcoidosis, but it is too early to change our management of these patients. Sarcoidosis is characterized by the presence of granulomasCsmall areas of inflamed cells that often appear in the lungs and adjacent lymph nodes but may appear anywhere in the body.
Pulmonary sarcoidosis can cause loss of lung volume and increased lung stiffness.
The cause of sarcoidosis remains a mystery. It has been suggested that an exaggerated defense reaction against some event or substance perceived as a threat by the immune system may trigger the condition and that there may be contributing genetic factors. The Swedish study followed 474 patients from 1966 to 1980 and followed 8,541 patients from 1964 to 1994. Thereafter, the risk for lung cancer was significantly decreased, while the risk for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was the same in patients with and without sarcoidosis. Spontaneous remissions occur in nearly two-thirds of sarcoidosis patients.