Melanoma, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Methotrexate

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Jim Burke

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)  patients who are also  using the drug methotrexate may also be facing an increased risk of lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma and lung cancer.   Researchers in Australia, where over 2 percent of the adults have RA, studied cancer incidence in RA patients who also used methotrexate (MTX) .  An article in the June issue of Arthritis Care & Research reports that their findings suggest an increased risk of malignancies in patients treated with MTX.

The study focused on 459 RA patients, 309 women and 150 men, regularly seen by 1 of 6 rheumatologists based in Melbourne. All had started treatment with MTX prior to June 1986.  The majority had no previous history of immunosuppressant therapy. 61 percent were rheumatoid factor positive.

Those RA patients also on MTX were found to have an estimated  50 percent excess risk of developing cancer in any form.  Risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was greater than 5 times the risk in the general population.  They also have 3 times the risk of melanoma and lung cancer. 

The study's major limitation is that there was no control group of RA patients who were not using methotrexate.  However, Dr. Rachelle Buchbinder, the study's lead author, feels that the study will have important implications in regard to the risk of  melanoma in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

"Further investigation is needed to determine whether this risk is unique to Australia and what role MTX, immunosuppression per se, and/or environmental factors such as exposure to UV radiation play in its development," Dr. Buchbinder stresses. "Our findings, taken together with other studies investigating the risk of skin cancer in patients with RA, may support a role for regular skin cancer screening for all patients with RA, particularly those receiving immunosuppressive therapy."

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Surviving Aplastic Anemia

Posted on May 14, 2008 by Jim Burke

In Cave City, Scotland Pam Hunt, now 60 years old, has never let her diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia get her down or limit her activity. She was diagnosed originally with leukemia but after a bone marrow test was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. At that time she was 15 years old. Her treatment was to get transfusions every two weeks.

She was told to limit her activities, not to play sports, not to become pregnant because of the risks of injury and internal bleeding. She ignored the warnings and is a living example of how one's attitude can play a part in how to deal with a diagnosis like hers. After her daughter was born she played softball, went fishing and boat riding. Even today she can put in a 12-hour day but is ready for bed when she gets home.

“The specialists and all the doctors told me that, with aplastic anemia, the top age of an adult would probably just be 35 to 40 years old,” Hunt said. “I never paid any attention to all that and that’s been the success to my survival. I don’t think about years or minutes or days or hours. I just wake up and do my thing and thank God that I’m here to do it.”


Tags: , , , , , ,