Does remecade infusions done in a 8 year male increase the chances at 18 for lymphoma

my son recently went to the ER thinking his colitis was back only to find his lymph nodes in his stomach are enlarged . After a scope and barium test we find no reason for his stomach tenderness as his colitis is in complete remission. The dr seems to keep blowing off my fear that its lymphoma cause by the remecade he had. Please Advise if im being overly sensitive. Or do i need to be more aggressive for the answer thanks

Daisy-
As you clearly know or at least have some idea about, Remicade has been linked to lymphoma-- this association goes back at least to 2004 when the drug's manufacturer admitted that Remicade users had I think 6 times the likelihood of developing lymphoma than non-users. In fact I think the FDA extended the risk across the full spectrum of this drug class-- TNF inhibitors -- after eleven pediatric lymphoma deaths. I don't know how often your son received the drug, nor do I know whether frequency or duration makes a difference.

But your doctor has little room to be blowing off this concern of yours, if for no other reason, the drug has a black box warning regarding cancer risk.

The problem with lymphoma is that it isn't easy to diagnose. It requires a rather lengthy battery of diagnostic tests, and doctors generally want to see something that convinces them that these tests are justified.

However, you can have lymphoma with or without evident signs, so I would suggest -- keep in mind that I'm not a health professional, at all -- I would suggest you keep up the aggressive course. A second opinion, or a challenge to your doc to explain his or her reasons for thinking he doesn't have lymphoma.

Ross

When it comes to the threat of cancer, there might be such a thing as overdrive, but the bar is pretty high. The strong association between this drug class and lymphoma is enough in my book to warrant overdrive, just to be on the safe side, and not the sorry side. Good luck--
Ross