Abatacept and the risk of malignancy: a meta-analysis across disease indications
Authors' conclusion
Abatacept was associated with a higher incidence of malignancy compared with other b/tsDMARDs in observational studies, but not when compared with placebo or TNFi in RCT/LTE data.
Study context
- Population
- People with RA and PsA in phase II/III/IV randomized clinical trials (RCTs), long-term extension (LTE) and observational cohort studies of abatacept18 RCTs and 10 LTE studies
- Comparison
- Abatacept vs placebo and tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) (RCT/LTE data); abatacept vs csDMARDs and other b/tsDMARDs (observational data)
- Outcome
- Incidence of malignancy excluding non-melanomatous skin cancers (NMSCs)
Methodological detailsnetwork meta-analysis, pairwise meta-analysis
- Network meta-analysis
- Pairwise meta-analysis
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Malignancy excluding NMSCs, RCT/LTE network meta-analysis
Incidence rate ratio (95% CI)
Abataceptvs Placebo
0.58(0.32–1.09)
Abataceptvs TNFi
0.72(0.27–1.87)
- Abatacept exposure in RCT/LTE studies
- 15 535 person-years
- Placebo exposure in RCT/LTE studies
- 1495 person-years
- TNFi exposure in RCT/LTE studies
- 733 person-years
Further pooled results
| Outcome | IRR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Malignancy, observational dataAbataceptvs b/tsDMARDs | 1.21 (1.15–1.28) | |
| Malignancy, observational dataAbataceptvs csDMARDs | 0.97 (0.90–1.06) | |
| 0.512Incidence rate ratio (log scale) |
Original publication
Abatacept and the risk of malignancy: a meta-analysis across disease indications. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 24 February 2025. doi:10.
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