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What is the Background Incidence of Malignancy in Children with Rheumatic Disease?

  • PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY (TJA LEHMAN, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Until recently, relatively little was known about the background risk of malignancy in pediatric rheumatic diseases. Worrying reports about the development of malignancies in children treated with new biologic agents have prompted rigorous studies of the incidence of malignancy associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). These studies reveal that JIA is likely to be associated with an increased risk of incident malignancy, irrespective of treatment with new biologic agents. A preliminary study indicates that the background risk of malignancy is also elevated in pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus. On the basis of simple observation, the background risk of malignancy among children with Sjögren syndrome and dermatomyositis seems much lower than the markedly elevated risk found in adults with the same diagnoses. Clearly, the background risk of malignancy must be considered in any evaluation of the safety of new therapeutic agents.

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Disclosure

Dr Beukelman has served as a consultant for Novartis and Genentech and has received grant support from Pfizer.

Dr Mannion reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Rheumatology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children’s Park Place 210, 1600 7th Ave South, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA

    Melissa L. Mannion & Timothy Beukelman

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  1. Melissa L. Mannion
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  2. Timothy Beukelman
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Correspondence to Timothy Beukelman.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pediatric Rheumatology

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Mannion, M.L., Beukelman, T. What is the Background Incidence of Malignancy in Children with Rheumatic Disease?. Curr Rheumatol Rep 15, 310 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-012-0310-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-012-0310-2

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