J Rheum Dis 2022; 29(3): 162-170  
Use of Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs After Cancer Diagnosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Young Bin Joo, M.D.1, Seung Min Jung, M.D.2, Yune-Jung Park, M.D.2, Ki-Jo Kim, M.D.2, Kyung-Su Park, M.D.2
1Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Guri, 2Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
Correspondence to: Kyung-Su Park, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0020-003X
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 93 Jungbu-daero, Paldal-gu, Suwon 16247, Korea. E-mail: pkyungsu@catholic.ac.kr
Received: January 20, 2022; Revised: March 9, 2022; Accepted: April 5, 2022; Published online: July 1, 2022.
© Korean College of Rheumatology.

This is a open Access article, which permits unrestricted non-commerical use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objective: There is no recommendation for the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who developed cancer. We examined changes in the DMARDs prescription patterns associated with cancer diagnosis in RA patients.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 2,161 RA patients who visited rheumatology clinic between January 2008 and February 2017 and found 40 patients who developed cancer during RA treatment. In these patients, we examined DMARDs prescription patterns before and right after cancer diagnosis and at recent outpatient clinic visits.
Results: Before cancer diagnosis, methotrexate (MTX)-combined conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) were most commonly prescribed (22, 55.0%) and biological DMARDs (biologics) in nine patients (22.5%). For cancer treatment, 19 patients received chemotherapy (including adjuvant chemotherapy) and 21 patients had surgery only. Right after cancer diagnosis, changes in the DMARDs prescription patterns were similar in discontinuation (13, 32.5%), switching (14, 35.0%), and maintenance (13, 32.5%). DMARDs were discontinued more frequently in the chemotherapy group (9/19, 47.4%) than the surgery only group (4/2, 19.0%) (p<0.05). Among the 13 patients who discontinued DMARDs, nine (69.2%) resumed DMARDs after a median of 5.5 months (interquartile range [IQR] 2.9, 18.3) due to arthritis flare. At a median of 4.6 years (IQR 3.3, 6.7) after cancer diagnosis, 25 patients were evaluated at recent outpatient clinic visits. Four patients received no DMARD, three MTX monotherapies, 11 csDMARDs combination therapies, and seven biologics.
Conclusion: A significant number of RA patients who developed cancer during RA treatment were still receiving DMARDs including biologics after cancer diagnosis.
Keywords: Biologics, Cancer, Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, Methotrexate, Rheumatoid arthritis

This Article


Author ORCID Information

Services
Social Network Service

e-submission

Search for

Archives