The relationship between malignancy and rheumatic manifestations is complex. The purpose of this review is to highlight the associations between rheumatic disorders and cancer. This review focuses on paraneoplastic rheumatic disorders which are associated with an occult malignancy, the risk of malignant transformation in rheumatic diseases, the malignant potential of antirheumatic drugs as well as rheumatic complications of drugs used to treat cancers. The clinician must be aware of the associations between malignancy and rheumatic diseases for proper diagnosis and management