IBD Drugs and Cancer Risk
- Joan Stephenson, PhD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DRUG REACTION, ADVERSE
- DRUG THERAPY
- HODGKIN DISEASE
- IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE AGENTS
- INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES
- LYMPHOMA
- LYMPHOMA, NON-HODGKIN
- RISK FACTORS
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are treated with thiopurines have an increased risk of developing lymphomas, according to a prospective observational cohort study by French investigators (Beaugerie L et al. Lancet. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61302-7 [published online October 19, 2009]).
The study involved 19 486 patients with IBD, some of whom were treated with these immunosuppressive drugs. During a 3-year follow-up period, 22 participants were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 1 with Hodgkin lymphoma. Incidence rates were 0.90 per 1000 patient-years in those receiving thiopurines, 0.20 per 1000 patient-years in those who had taken the drugs but had discontinued their use at the start of the study, and 0.26 per 1000 patient-years in those who had never taken thiopurines.
An accompanying commentary said that “physicians should be cautious when prolonged combined and deep immunosuppression is needed to achieve disease control” but concluded that despite the slightly increased risk of lymphoma, …
