Lupus & antiphospholipid syndrome
Cancer incidence and the influence of immunosuppressive agents in Korean patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
Our study shows that Korean SLE patients using immunosuppressive agents are not significantly more likely to develop cancer.
Study context
- Population
- Korean systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, Korea Healthcare Bigdata Linked Platform (National Central Cancer Registry and NHIS databases), 2008–2017; 91% female, mean age 36.9 ± 15.2 years62,268.5 person-years (PYs) follow-up
- Participants
- 10,013 patients
- Exposure
- Immunosuppressive agent use vs no use, for cancer development
- Outcome
- Cancer incidence (incidence rates (IRs) per 10,000 PYs, site-specific by ICD-O-3 codes)
Methodological detailsnationwide database (Korea Healthcare Bigdata Linked Platform), multivariable logistic regression
- Nationwide database (Korea Healthcare Bigdata Linked Platform)
- Multivariable logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Cancer incidence, IRs per 10,000 PYs
- Patients who developed cancer
- 368
- Total cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 59.07
- Solid cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 54.09
- Hematologic cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 5.78
- Thyroid cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 17.01 (95% CI 13.78-20.25)
- Breast cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 8.67 (95% CI 6.36-10.98)
- Stomach cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 4.49 (95% CI 2.83-6.16)
- Colorectal cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 4.17 (95% CI 2.57-5.78)
- Cervical cancer IR per 10,000 PYs
- 3.85 (95% CI 2.31-5.39)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Cancers diagnosed at localized Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) stage
- Approximately half of SLE patients with cancer
- 50.8%
Association of immunosuppressive agents with cancer development
- No statistically significant association; OR
- 1.03 (95% CI 0.80-1.34)
- Multivariable logistic regression
Original publication
Cancer incidence and the influence of immunosuppressive agents in Korean patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective cohort study. Arthritis Res Ther. Published 22 January 2025. doi:10.
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