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Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Increases Cancer Risk
09/17/2009 - News
Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Increases Cancer Risk
By: June Chen, MD
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Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints, and it affects approximately 1.3 million adults in the United States, most of whom are over the age of 40. One of the most common treatments for rheumatoid arthritis is methotrexate. According to a study in the June 15 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, individuals with rheumatoid arthritis who are treated with methotrexate have an increased risk of melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and lung cancer .
Investigators from Australia studied 459 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were treated with methotrexate in order to determine cancer risk. The patients were followed for an average of 9.3 years. The investigators found that, compared to the general population, these patients had 3-fold increase in melanoma (a malignant skin cancer), a 5-fold increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (a blood cell cancer), and an almost 3-fold increase in lung cancer.
Although the mechanism behind this increased cancer risk is not yet known, the authors of the study suggested that these findings might support a role for regular skin cancer screening of all rheumatoid arthritis patients, especially because melanoma is easily treated if detected early.
Source
Arthritis Care Res. 2008;59:794-799.
Created on: 06/19/2008
Reviewed on: 09/17/2009
Reviewed on: 09/17/2009
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Yes. I've mentioned this to my rheumatologists and they always state the same thing; the risks from taking these medicines greatly outweigh the risks from not taking them. I guess this is true as I'd rather play russian roulette with only one round in the chamber as opposed to a loaded gun...metaphorically speaking of course. But I truly hope that they can find a cure for RA in the near future. It seems that there are no cures...just drugs that mask or stop the symptoms while it wreaks havoc on other parts of your body. They say that people with RA should try to relax and remain stress free....how now do we do that when we feel like no matter what we do to fight this, there's a target tattooed on our backs? I've had juvenile RA for almost 10 years now and have been on Enbrel and Methotrexate for about 5. I am only 28 but I am constantly thinking about cancer and death. How cruel is that?
Like you, we hope that ongoing aggressive research in the area of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and juvenile RA will lead to a cure. A small study published online in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy in June 2009 reported that an experimental drug called masitinib may provide relief for adults with RA that has not responded to other RA drugs. Chronic illnesses such as RA impose significant burdens on both patients and their loved ones, so we applaud your courage and encourage you to be as active and optimistic as possible.
This news item was posted in June 2008. Upon further review of the original study, there is no specific mention of lifestyle factors such as smoking and exercise or the average dose of methotrexate these RA patients were taking, but it does seem that there was an increase in the incidence of malignancy approximately ten years after starting methotrexate. To read the full details of this study, visit http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/119635892/PDFSTART.
As with any other medication, methotrexate is associated with risks and benefits. Your doctor can discuss potential treatment side effects with you.
I agree with Anonymous. It is rude to post a article like this with out explaining the details. People with Arthirtis have a lot to deal with ,when comes to all the medicine they have to take just to get out of bed. Now we can worry a little more about what all this medicine is going to do. Why is it that they can't come up with medicine that will help and not kill you?
How many mg of Methotrexate did the patients take on average? How long after taking methotrexate did patients develop these cancers on average? Did these patients smoke? Was there regular exercise involved? This article contains information that doesn't help any of us RA patients. All it does is scare us without giving us much detail. Also, this article was created in 2008....why is it now being shown on yahoo?