RESEARCH - Frequency of cancer in lupus

[Guest guest]

Arthritis Foundation

Research Update

October/November 2005

Frequency of Cancer in Lupus

What problem was studied?

Although individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus are living longer

today, they still are prone to developing many co-existing conditions such

as premature heart disease and osteoporosis. Previous studies have also

suggested a link between lupus and cancer. However, the small sample sizes

in these studies made it impossible to accurately determine whether people

with lupus had a higher rate of cancer than the general population. To

better quantify the cancer risk, a large, multi-center international study

was undertaken. The major funding for the study was an Arthritis Foundation

Clinical Science Grant awarded to lind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH at

Northwestern University in Chicago which allowed the research team to

leverage additional support from several Canadian funding agencies.

What was done in the study?

To obtain an adequate sample size, the study involved 23 lupus centers from

6 countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Sweden

and Korea). Data was collected on age, sex, race and ethnicity, lupus

duration and occurrence of cancer. Data on cancer rates from each center

were compared to regional tumor registries to determine cancer occurrence.

What were the study results?

The study included over 9500 lupus patients who were followed on average for

8 years and for a total of nearly 80,000 person years. According to Dr.

Ramsey-Goldman, " This type of long-term, international study involving so

many people with lupus had never been done before. It was a success story

that would not have been possible without the support of the Arthritis

Foundation. " The study confirmed that people with lupus have an increased

risk for cancer, particularly for blood-related cancers such as

non-Hodgkin's

lymphoma, and lung and liver cancer. After controlling for age, sex,

duration of lupus and location, White subjects with lupus appeared to have a

higher risk of cancer compared with non-Whites. However, the increased risk

for lymphoma appears to be the same across racial and ethnic groups - a

3-fold increase in risk compared to the general population.

What's the relevance to people with lupus?

Further research is needed to clarify the reasons for the increased risk of

cancer. Dr. Ramsey-Goldman also notes, " The risk of cancer is extremely rare

for an individual lupus patient. For example, if the lifetime risk of cancer

in the general population is 4%, the risk in SLE is 4.6%. Similarly, the

risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is much less than 1% even in patients with

lupus. However, these findings highlight the need for people with lupus and

their physicians to be diligent in having age-appropriate cancer screening

tests performed as part of their ongoing care. "

Sources: Arthritis and Rheumatism, April 2005 and Arthritis and Rheumatism

(Arthritis Care and Research) October 15, 2005

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=15880596 & query_hl=1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=16208671 & query_hl=1

http://www.arthritis.org/research/ResearchUpdate/05Oct_Nov/frequency.asp

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org