Mortality was increased by 40% and 50%, respectively, in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who developed breast or prostate cancer, after controlling for other comorbidities, a recent study found. Researchers identified patients diagnosed with breast, prostate, colorectal, or lung cancer between 2001 to 2010 from the Texas Cancer Registry and Medicare-linked databases. The cohort included 139,097 patients with cancer (35,026 breast, 43,181 prostate, 31,103 colorectal, and 29,787 lung). They found:

• 1.7% had 1 RA claim, and 1.1% had 2 or more.

• Adjusted hazard ratios for patients in the 2 RA group (≥2 claims) were 1.41 for breast and 1.53 for prostate.

• No significant differences were observed for those with colorectal or lung cancer.

Citation: Nayak P, Luo R, Elting L, Zhao H, Suarez-Almazor ME. Impact of rheumatoid arthritis on the mortality of elderly patients who develop cancer: A population-based study. [Published online ahead of print August 2, 2016]. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). doi:10.1002/acr.22997.