Mortality in US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
Authors' conclusion
Patients with RA who received ICIs for the treatment of malignancy did not experience increased mortality or differences in cause of death compared with patients without RA receiving ICIs.
Study context
- Population
- US Veterans (Veterans Health Administration (VHA)) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) for cancer; mostly white, male, current/former smokers; lung cancer most common malignancy (51.2%)matched cohort
- Participants
- 301 vs 2,114
- Exposure
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vs matched controls without RA, all treated with an ICI
- RAn = 301
- Non-RAn = 2,114reference
- Outcome
- All-cause mortality from ICI initiation
Methodological detailsmatched on age, sex and year of VA enrollment, Cox models, Kaplan-Meier curves, log rank testing
- Matched on age, sex and year of VA enrollment
- Cox models
- Kaplan-Meier curves
- Log rank testing
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
All-cause mortality
RA vs Non-RAEstimate (95% CI)
Crude analysis
HR (crude) 1.08(0.94–1.25)
Adjusted analysis
HR (adjusted) 1.09(0.94–1.25)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Cause of death: neoplasm
P = 0.737
Cause of death: neoplasm
- Cause of death similar in the two groups
Deaths due to infection
- Rare in both groups
- <1.0%
Original publication
Mortality in US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). Published 4 February 2026. doi:10.
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