Cancer Rate Is Four Times Higher in Kids With Juvenile Arthritis

The rate of cancer is 4 times higher in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis compared to kids without the disease. While the primary suspect might seem like it would be treatment with TNF blockers, researchers reported that the increased rate of cancer appeared not to be linked to treatment.

The study, published online in the February 2012 Arthritis & Rheumatism, used Medicaid data from 2000-2005 and identified 7,812 children with juvenile arthritis. Two other groups were used for comparison; they had asthma and ADHD rather than juvenile arthritis. Researchers categorized patients as having "ever" or "never" been treated with methotrexate or TNF blockers. Then they classified incident malignancies as "possible", "probable", or "highly probable".

While the higher rate of cancer for kids with juvenile arthritis seems not to be related to treatment, larger scale and longer term studies would help confirm these conclusions.

Related Articles:

• Juvenile Arthritis - Arthritis Is Children's Disease Too
• 2011 ACR Treatment Recommendations for Juvenile Arthritis
• Juvenile Arthritis Screening Quiz

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