1. Risks of hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis-associated complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a 10-year population-based cohort study in Taiwan.
- Author
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Hsu CS, Lang HC, Huang KY, Chao YC, and Chen CL
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Arthritis, Rheumatoid drug therapy, Ascites epidemiology, Ascites etiology, Biological Products therapeutic use, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular virology, Esophageal and Gastric Varices epidemiology, Esophageal and Gastric Varices etiology, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Hepatic Encephalopathy epidemiology, Hepatic Encephalopathy etiology, Hepatitis B complications, Hepatitis B epidemiology, Hepatitis C classification, Hepatitis C epidemiology, Humans, Immunologic Factors therapeutic use, Incidence, Liver Cirrhosis virology, Liver Neoplasms virology, Male, Middle Aged, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Factors, Taiwan epidemiology, Young Adult, Arthritis, Rheumatoid epidemiology, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular epidemiology, Liver Cirrhosis complications, Liver Neoplasms epidemiology
- Abstract
Background/purpose: Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been linked to several important malignancies, data for the risks of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with RA are scarce. We aimed to examine the risk of HCC and cirrhosis-associated complications and the use of biologics in a national representative RA sample in Taiwan., Methods: All study subjects aged ≥ 18 years in the Taiwan National Health Insurance program between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2009 were enrolled. We matched RA and non-RA subjects by propensity scores in a 1:1 ratio. Our primary outcome was a diagnosis of HCC and cirrhosis-associated complications during a 10-year follow-up period. The risk of outcomes was represented as a hazard ratio (HR) calculated in Cox proportional hazard regression models., Results: 24,245 RA and 24,245 non-RA subjects were included in the primary outcome analysis. Mean overall person-years (PY) of follow-up were 116,608 PY for the RA cohort, and 234,280 PY for the non-RA cohort. The overall incidence of HCC and cirrhosis-associated complications was lower in the RA cohort than in the non-RA cohort (0.66% vs. 1.41% HCC events and 1.45% vs. 1.95% cirrhosis-associated complications events during 10-year follow-up). The HRs adjusted for age, sex, the frequency of medical visits, and CCI were 0.57 (0.46-0.71) for HCC and 0.67 (0.59-0.76) for HCC and cirrhosis-associated complications. Although immunomodulatory agents may alter the risk of malignancy, use of biologics did not increase HCC risk in RA patients., Conclusions: RA is associated with a reduced risk of developing HCC and cirrhosis-associated complications., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02880306.
- Published
- 2018
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