Radiotherapy in cancer and rheumathoid arthritis patients: cancer treatment or control of articular flares? We can achieve both.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci
; 25(3): 1548-1556, 2021 02.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33629324
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The study was aimed to investigate the role of radiotherapy (RT) as a risk factor for reactivation or worsening of symptoms in patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
This is a single-center retrospective observational study on RA patients who developed cancer requiring RT during the course of the disease. The control group consisted of RA patients with cancer who did not undergo RT. In both groups, the disease activity was evaluated at baseline and at 6 and 12 months through the DAS28 index. A relapse was defined as an increase of >20% in DAS28. A radiotherapist evaluated total and daily doses and timing of radiation. Acute and late toxicity was defined as events occurring within 90 days from the start and more than 90 days after the completion of RT, respectively.RESULTS:
Seventy-two RA patients (38F/34M; mean age 70±9 years; mean disease duration 13±9 years), 29 (40.2%) of whom received radiotherapy (mean age 72.9±9 years), were enrolled. The most frequent malignancies were breast (27.2%), thyroid (9.8%), and skin (7%). Between radio-treated and non-radio-treated patients, no significant differences in RA reactivation (6/29 vs. 17/43; p=0.12) or mean exacerbation time (6.7 ± 4.9 months compared to 6.4 ± 4.1 months; p=0.78) were found. Overall, RT was well tolerated with low rates of both acute and late toxicity.CONCLUSIONS:
In RA patients, RT was well tolerated and not associated with an increased risk of articular flares. Properly designed prospective clinical studies with a larger number of patients should be performed to confirm these data.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Antirheumatic Agents
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci
Journal subject:
FARMACOLOGIA
/
TOXICOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italia