Key clinical point: Computed tomography (CT) screening before initiating biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may help in early detection and treatment of malignancies, resulting in a safer and more stable RA treatment course.
Major finding: Malignancy was confirmed in 33 patients; however, only 7 vs 33 cases were detected with regular vs CT screening, respectively. Overall, 6 of 7 cases detected by regular screening were progressed stage malignancies, whereas 19 of 33 cases detected by CT screening were early stage malignancies; 80% of patients diagnosed with early stage malignancy achieved low-disease activity after 1 year of RA treatment.
Study details: This study evaluated 2192 patients with RA who were screened for malignancy using regular physical examination followed by CT before initiating b/tsDMARD.
Disclosures: This study was partly supported by the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan. Five authors declared receiving research grants, consulting fees, lecture fees, speaking fees, or honoraria from various sources.
Source: Miyata H et al. Computed tomography for malignancy screening in patients with rheumatoid arthritis before initiation of disease modifying antirheumatic drug. Rheumatology (Oxford) . 2023 (Feb 14). Doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kead075