DMARD (disease-modifying antirheumatic drug) treatment in patients with former or current cancer

In contrast to the original fear that treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and especially with biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs), was associated with an increased risk of the induction of malignancies, this has meanwhile fortunately not been confirmed over the long-term administration. Evaluations from register-based investigations as well as from other long-term cohort studies confirm that neither conventional DMARDs, such as methotrexate, nor tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors or biologics with a different mode of action show such a risk for induction of cancer or hematological malignancies (for skin tumors see the other article). Regarding the question whether recurrences of former malignancies can be induced by DMARDs, the database is considerably smaller; however, published investigations dealing with this topic so far signal that also in this respect no increased risk can be found. When comparing the individual substances with each other no substantial differences can be found. Although used in the treatment of hematological cancers, rituximab does not offer any advantages in comparison to other biologics. For the group of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, which have been in use only for a few years, data outside the randomized controlled studies (which are limited in time and are conducted with a selected patient population) are limited so that a clear statement regarding the malignancy risk is not yet possible for these substances. In a solitary study comparing tofacitinib with TNF inhibitors in high-risk patients, the malignancy risk of the JAK inhibitor was increased compared to that under TNF inhibitor treatment; however, these results have not yet been confirmed by a second investigation.