Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34553648›Full record

SynthesisAnnals of medicine2021

Antimalarials may reduce cancer risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.

Xian-Bao Li, Nv-Wei Cao, Xiu-Jie Chu, Hao-Yue Zhou, Hua Wang, Si-Jie Yu, Dong-Qing Ye, Bao-Zhu Li

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Annals of medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Cancer in connective tissue disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xian-Bao LiDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Nv-Wei CaoDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Xiu-Jie ChuDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Hao-Yue ZhouDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Hua WangDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Si-Jie YuDepartment of Clinical Medicine "5 + 3" Integration, Second Clinical Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Dong-Qing YeDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Bao-Zhu LiDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8081-9857
Anhui Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate the effect of antimalarials on cancer risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

methodsPubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from their inception to October 3, 2020. Relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used to evaluate the results. Subgroup analyses were used to assess heterogeneity. A funnel plot was used to explore publication bias. STATA was applied for all analyses.

resultsA total of nine studies consisted of four nested case-control, two case-cohort and three cohort studies were included. The results showed that antimalarials might reduce the risk of cancer in SLE (RR = 0.68, 95%CI: 0.55-0.85). In the subgroup analysis of four nested case-control and two case-cohort studies, the pooled RR was estimated as 0.69 (95% CI: 0.60-0.80). In four studies about hydroxychloroquine, the pooled RR was estimated as 0.70 (95% CI: 0.53-0.93). Antimalarials might reduce the risk of cancer in SLE among the Asian population (RR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.49-0.88) (

conclusionResults of this meta-analysis showed that antimalarial drugs might be protective factors for cancer in SLE. Hydroxychloroquine might be a protective factor for cancer in SLE patients.KEY MESSAGESAntimalarials might be protective factors for cancer in SLE.Hydroxychloroquine might be a protective factor for cancer in SLE patients.The first article to perform the meta-analysis of antimalarial drugs on the risk of cancer in SLE patients.

Indexed as

AntimalarialsHumansHydroxychloroquineLupus Erythematosus, SystemicNeoplasmsProspective StudiesRiskAntimalarialsHydroxychloroquineantimalarialscancerhydroxychloroquineSystemic lupus erythematosus

Identifiers

PMID34553648
PMCPMC8462850
OpenAlexW3201643341

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.