Risk of malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in rheumatoid arthritis patients initiating methotrexate versus hydroxychloroquine : a cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To characterise the incidence rate of skin cancer associated with methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine in older adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS: RA patients aged ≥65 years who initiated methotrexate or hydroxychloroquine as their first disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The primary outcome was new occurrence of any skin cancer (i.e. malignant melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer; NMSC) based on validated algorithms (positive predictive value >83%). Secondary outcomes were malignant melanoma, NMSC, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We estimated the incidence rates (IRs) and hazard ratios (HRs) for each outcome in the 1:1 propensity score (PS)-matched methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine groups.

RESULTS: We included 24,577 PS-matched pairs of methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine initiators. Compared with hydroxychloroquine (IR 25.20/1,000 person-years), methotrexate initiators (IR 26.21/1,000 person-years) had a similar risk of any skin cancer [HR 1.03 -(95%CI 0.92, 1.14)] over a mean follow-up of 388 days. The HR (95%CI) associated with methotrexate was 1.39 (0.87, 2.21) for malignant melanoma, 1.01(0.90, 1.12) for NMSC, 1.37 (1.13, 1.66) for BCC, and 0.79 (0.63, 0.99) for SCC compared with hydroxychloroquine.

CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of older RA patients initiating methotrexate or hydroxychloroquine as their first DMARD, we found no difference in the risk of skin cancer including malignant melanoma and NMSC. However, for specific components of NMSC, methotrexate initiators had higher risk of BCC but lower risk of SCC compared with hydroxychloroquine initiators.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:41

Enthalten in:

Clinical and experimental rheumatology - 41(2023), 1 vom: 25. Jan., Seite 110-117

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Lee, Hemin [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Sarah K [VerfasserIn]
Gautam, Nileesa [VerfasserIn]
Vine, Seanna M [VerfasserIn]
He, Mengdong [VerfasserIn]
Desai, Rishi J [VerfasserIn]
Weinblatt, Michael E [VerfasserIn]
Glynn, Robert J [VerfasserIn]
Kim, Seoyoung C [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

4QWG6N8QKH
Antirheumatic Agents
Hydroxychloroquine
Journal Article
Methotrexate
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Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 25.01.2023

Date Revised 02.01.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.55563/clinexprheumatol/staplf

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM341389552