New Research Proves that Anti-tumor Necrosis Factor Therapies Do Not Enhance the Predisposition to Cancer In Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
A new investigation regarding people who suffer from RA (rheumatoid arthritis) observed that the patients did not present a high predisposition of developing malignant tumors within the first six years after beginning a treatment with the anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor). The Swedish team of investigators had as leading author medical doctor Johan Askling from the Swedish Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. His team of researchers evaluated the short- and medium-term predisposition to developing malignant tumors of the people who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and were treated with anti- tumor necrosis factor treatments such as adalimumab, infliximab and etanercept.
The investigation of the Swedish researchers is released in the Arthritis & Rheumatism in the November edition which is a journal of the American College of Rheumatology by Wiley-Blackwell.
The tumor necrosis factor is a solution produced by the body`s immune system cells entitled cytokine. This substance has the role of regulator of the immune system and plays a great part in the inflammation process. Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors also known as blockers of the tumor necrosis factor represent a group of treatments that is utilized in counteracting swellings in chronic swellings such as the rheumatoid arthritis. The standard immunosuppressant medications and those comprised in the investigation are Enbrel®, Remicade® and HumiraTM. Due to the fact that these treatments are utilized in order to counteract the chronic swelling diseases, the long-run inhibition of the tumor necrosis factor determines debates on the enhanced predisposition to cancer or various infections.
The Swedish investigation represents one of the biggest and long lasting evaluations of the population in verifying the predisposition of developing malignant tumors linked to treatments that comprise immunosuppressive medications. The research incorporated information coming from various Swedish databases such as the Cancer Register, the Biologics Register and the Early RA Register.
The group of scientists observed and evaluated the data coming from 6,366 people who began anti- tumor necrosis factor treatment on a period ranging between January 1999 and July 2006. The information coming from patients who underwent tumor necrosis factor inhibiting therapies was later compared with some other groups of people who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. These groups comprised 61,160 people who did not take any kind of drugs, 4,015 patients using the gold standard rheumatoid arthritis therapy entitled methotrexate and 4,015 individuals who took combinations of anti- rheumatoid arthritis medications that were known to modify the illness but different from the drugs inhibiting the tumor necrosis factor.
The outcome of the large investigation was that 240 first main cancers were diagnosed during the 25,693 human-being years of tracking in the people who underwent anti- tumor necrosis factor treatments who did not present any history of malignant tumors at the outbreak of the immunosuppressant drug therapy. In comparison with the bigger national rheumatoid arthritis group who did not get tumor necrosis factor inhibitor medications or who had developed malignant tumors in the past, the relative predisposition to develop cancer for patients who underwent anti- tumor necrosis factor treatments was 1.00 and did not change for the persons who took immunosuppressant medications for even six years.
As the leading investigator states their research pointed out the overall predisposition to cancer was the same for people who developed rheumatoid arthritis and were currently undergoing immunosuppressant treatments and those patients who did not take that type of medication in counteracting their illness. In addition, doctor Askling states that there are some uncertainties that remain under the sing of the doubt and recommends vigilance in these treatments in order to assure that nothing goes wrong.
The rheumatoid arthritis represents an autoimmune illness that has as symptoms chronic swelling of the joint, joint tissues and other organs. The RA is one of the most widely spread variant of swelling arthritis. Statistics released in 2004 by WHO (World Health Organization) stated that approximately 23.7 million individuals all over the Globe, from which 1.3 adults from the United States, suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. 75 percent of the 23.7 million cases represented the female gender.
