Non-hodgkin's lymphoma in a cohort of Vietnam veterans

Non-hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are cancers of the lymph tissue, other than Hodgkin's disease. Recent studies have shown that exposure to phenoxy herbicides, chemicals used to kill plants, may increase the risk for NHL. 'Agent Orange' is a herbicide that was widely used during the Vietnam war. The question of whether Vietnam veterans are at greater risk for NHL has been raised. This study compared NHL rates in Vietnam veterans with rates in veterans from the same time period, but were not in Vietnam. The study randomly selected 18,313 veterans who served between January 1965 and December 1971, of which 9,324 were Vietnam veterans and 8,989 were non-Vietnam veterans. Phone interviews were conducted and 15,288 veterans were interviewed. Results showed that seven Vietnam veterans and one non-Vietnam veteran had been diagnosed with NHL. The expected number of cases were 3.9 for the Vietnam veterans and 3.5 for the non-Vietnam veterans. Therefore, these results suggest that Vietnam veterans may have an increased risk for developing NHL. However, the small number of cases in this study, and the inability to directly measure exposure to Agent Orange, make it difficult reach any definitive conclusions as to why these veterans have increased rates of NHL. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)