HSCT is associated with an increased risk of TB in endemic regions. Older age and development of chronic GVHD are independent predictors of late onset active TB in HSCT recipients.

Aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection occur at higher rates in SLE patients than in people without SLE and a longer disease duration is associated with a higher risk of these rare vascular complications.

Our study showed that patients with MG had an increased risk of extrathymic malignancy in a follow-up of 8 years, but no specific susceptibility to certain malignancies was found.

Background:As more patients are treated by haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), development of secondary malignancy (SM) becomes an increasingly common issue in long-term survivors.Methods:We conducted a nationwide population-based study of the Taiwanese population to analyse patients who received HSCT between January 1997 and December 2010. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were used to compare the risk of SM in HSCT patients and the general population. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of SM.Results:Patients receiving HSCT had a significantly greater risk of developing SM (SIR 2.00; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.45–2.69; P<0.001). Specifically, the incidence increased for cancers of the oral cavity (SIR 14.18) and oesophagus (SIR 14.75) after allogeneic HSCT. Multivariate analysis revealed an increased SIR for cancer in patients who received the immunosuppressant azathioprine. The risk of SM also increased with greater cumulative doses of azathioprine.Conclusions:This study demonstrates an increased incidence of SM in Taiwanese patients who received allogeneic HSCT, especially for cancers of the oral cavity and oesophagus. This finding is different from results in populations of Western countries. Physicians should be cautious about azathioprine use for graft-vs-host disease after HSCT.

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