When 125 patients with generalized pruritus were followed up for 6 years, 66% reported continuing pruritus. In four patients a malignancy had been identified at the time of the initial examination, and four other patients developed malignancies during the follow-up period. Seven of the patients died of the malignancy during the follow-up period. This incidence of malignancies does not differ significantly from the value expected in a general population, matched for age and sex. However, two of the cancers were lymphomas, and this incidence is significantly (p < 0.01) higher than that expected in a similarly matched population. As a whole our study indicates that no significant overall increase of malignant neoplasms is to be expected in patients with generalized pruritus and, therefore, any general efforts for cancer follow-up screening seem unwarranted in patients with pruritus.