Eczema characterized by itch, sleeplessness, and adverse effects on quality of life is associated with a risk of hematological malignancies. However, there is a controversy pertaining to whether this association implies a greater or lesser risk of hematological cancers. We aimed to explore the link between eczema and hematological malignancies risk.
We systematically searched PubMed and Embase databases from their inception to February 17, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened articles, extracted data and assessed study quality, respectively. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled by using fixed or random-effects models.
29 studies involving 2,521,574 participants examined the contribution of eczema to hematological malignancies. We found that eczema significantly increased the risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma (1.44; 95% CI, 1.07–1.95), myeloma (1.15; 95% CI, 1.04–1.28), and significantly decreased the risk of lymphocytic leukemia (0.91; 95% CI, 0.84–0.99); however, it is not significantly associated with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and myelocytic leukemia.
Eczema has been shown to be associated with the risk of hematological cancer, this association still needs to be verified in large randomized controlled trials.