Hematologic malignancies in the Japanese patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background Although attention has been focused for over 20 years on the possible increased risk for hematologic malignancies (HM) in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) receiving immune-modulators or anti-TNF-alpha antibodies, the association is still controversial. To understand the actual conditions of HM in the Japanese patients with IBD, the research committee for IBD supported by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor of Japan (IBD-MHWL) conducted a multi-center retrospective study.