Observational studyRMD open2025
Cancer recurrence risk with bDMARD treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and a history of cancer: a nationwide Danish register-based cohort study.
Observational study in RMD open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Therapeutic approaches for difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic literature review of current evidence.RMD open · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- Lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Prescribing Biologic Immune-Modifying Therapies for Patients with a History of Cancer: A Cross-Specialty Review.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Review
- Article
- Tumor safety of biologic agents and targeted therapies in immune-mediated inflammatory arthritides.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Revisiting B-cell targeted therapies in rheumatoid arthritis: from paradoxical biology to deep immune reset.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the risk of cancer recurrence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a prior solid cancer in remission treated with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) compared with those who received only conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs).
methodsNationwide registry-based cohort study of Danish patients with RA and one of the six algorithm-specific solid cancers in remission (breast, colorectal, melanoma, bladder, endometrial and lung) who initiated treatment with a bDMARD or a csDMARD. Three bDMARD exposure groups were defined according to the type(s) of bDMARD initiated: (1) any bDMARD, (2) tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and (3) rituximab. Patients were identified in Danish Rheumatology Quality Register and followed for cancer recurrence from 2002 to 2021 using validated cancer-specific recurrence algorithms. Inverse probability of treatment weighting and weighted cause-specific Cox models were used to calculate HRs for cancer recurrence in each bDMARD exposure group compared with a csDMARD-treated group.
resultsAmong 720 unique patients with RA and an algorithm-specific solid cancer in remission, 170 any bDMARD, 81 TNFi, 99 rituximab and 651 csDMARD initiators were identified. No statistically significant increased HRs for cancer recurrence were found with any type of bDMARD 0.92 (95% CI 0.38 to 1.73), TNFi 1.10 (95% CI 0.21 to 3.16) or rituximab 0.94 (95% CI 0.32 to 2.11). Also, no increased HRs were shown for breast cancer recurrence specifically.
conclusionNo indications of increased cancer recurrence risk were found for bDMARDs as used in clinical practice in patients with RA and a solid cancer in remission when compared with csDMARD treatment.
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