Cancer rate 4 times higher in children with juvenile arthritis
Dr. Beukelman concludes, “While our findings show children with JIA have a higher incidence of cancer compared to peers without JIA, the greater frequency of malignancy does not appear to be necessarily associated with treatment, including use of TNF inhibitors. This highlights the critical importance of appropriate comparator groups when evaluating the safety of new medications. Further confirmation of our findings with large-scale and long-term investigation of the association between cancer and JIA, and its treatment is needed.”
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This research was supported by grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Childhood Cancer Deaths Are Declining
During the past 25 years, there have been significant improvements in the five-year relative survival rate for all of the major childhood cancers. The five-year relative survival rate among children for all cancer sites combined improved from 58% for patients diagnosed in 1975–1977 to 80% for those diagnosed in 1996–2004.
A CDC study found that from 1990 to 2004, childhood leukemia death rates fell by 3.0% per year, childhood brain and other nervous system cancers by 1.0% per year, and all other childhood cancers combined by 1.3% per year, likely reflecting better treatment of childhood cancers.
*2005 is the most recent year for which statistics are available.
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References
Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Xu J, Thun MJ. Cancer statistics, 2009. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 2009;59(4):225–249.
U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2005 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2009.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Trends in childhood cancer mortality - United States, 1990–2004. MMWR 2007;56(48):1257–1261.
This study is published in Arthritis & Rheumatism. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Full citations: “Rates of Malignancy Associated with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Its Treatment.” Timothy Beukelman, Kevin Haynes, Jeffrey R Curtis, Fenglong Xie, Lang Chen, Christina J. Bemrich-Stolz, Elizabeth Delzell, Kenneth G Saag, Daniel H Solomon, James D Lewis on behalf of the Safety Assessment of Biological thERapeutics (SABER) Collaboration. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: February 13, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34348).
Author Contacts: To arrange an interview with Dr. Beukelman, please contact Bob Shepard with the University of Alabama at Birmingham at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Media wishing to speak with Dr. Karen B. Onel or Dr. Kenan Onel may contact John Easton with the University of Chicago Medical Center at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .
About the Journal:
Arthritis & Rheumatism is an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP), a division of the College, and covers all aspects of inflammatory disease. The American College of Rheumatology (http://www.rheumatology.org) is the professional organization who share a dedication to healing, preventing disability, and curing the more than 100 types of arthritis and related disabling and sometimes fatal disorders of the joints, muscles, and bones. Members include practicing physicians, research scientists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. The journal is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the ACR. For more information, please visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1529-0131.
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