RESEARCH - Patients with RA are at an increased risk of lung cancer

[Guest guest]

Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis at Increased Risk of Lung Cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 23 - The risk of lung cancer is

increased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, even after taking

into account the effects of tobacco and asbestos exposure, according

to a case-control study in US military veterans.

Using a Veterans Health Administration database, Dr. Ritu Khurana, at

Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, and fellow researchers

obtained medical records for approximately 480,000 patients treated

between 1998 and 2004, including 7280 diagnosed with lung cancer and

8678 diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis was 3.4% among lung cancer

patients and 1.8% among controls, the investigators report in the

Journal of Rheumatology for September. After controlling for age,

gender, tobacco and asbestos exposure, patients with rheumatoid

arthritis were at significantly greater risk for lung cancer (adjusted

odds ratio, 1.43).

The association grew stronger with age, Dr. Khurana's group reports.

The authors note that a recent concern over the potential risks

associated with anti-TNF therapy were not relevant to this population

during a period when such therapy was not widely available.

In a related editorial, Dr. Henrik Kallberg, of Karolinska Institute

in Stockholm, Sweden, makes the point that " it is not clear... whether

the increased risk of developing cancer is due to coexisting risk

factors such as smoking, to rheumatoid arthritis disease itself, to

rheumatoid arthritis treatment, or simply to earlier detection of

cancer because of intense medical surveillance. "

J Rheumatol 2008;35:1695-1696,1704-1708.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/580925

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Not an MD

[Guest guest]

not really surprising given we have the additional risk of RA

associated lung disease.

Suz