Malignancy-associated risk factors in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Abstract

Background and aim: Systemic sclerosis was found to be associated with an increase in cancer incidence. The target of this study was to investigate the most common malignancies and to identify factors that increase the cancer risk in systemic sclerosis patients.

Materials and methods: In this single-centre retrospective study, we screened 252 patients attending our outpatient clinic between January 2005 and December 2021.

Results: A total of 252 systemic sclerosis patients were included in the study. Data for the patients were obtained by evaluating their medical records retrospectively. A total of 252 patients with systemic sclerosis were analysed. Nineteen patients were diagnosed with malignancies. Lung cancer was the most common malignancy among patients. Malignancies were not correlated with sex, follow-up period, type of systemic sclerosis, organ involvement, smoking history, serological tests, comorbidities, dose and duration of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), but advanced age at systemic sclerosis diagnosis increased the risk of malignancy (p = 0.017) in systemic sclerosis patients.

Conclusion: In the current study, advanced age at systemic sclerosis diagnosis was determined to be an extra risk factor for the initiation of cancer in systemic sclerosis patients. Particularly in this patient group, additional screenings might be helpful for early diagnosis. Treatments such as methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, and mycophenolate mofetil can be used without additional cancer risk.