British researchers have found a connection between inflammatory polyarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. The connection -- a 40 percent increase in cancer mortality in patients with both arthritis conditions.This is a striking finding, say researchers, whose study is published in the March issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
"The results of this study demonstrated that five-year cancer survival in patients with IP is substantially reduced in comparison with that in the general population, even after adjusting for differences in age, sex, and cancer site, whereas the overall cancer incidence does not seem to be increased," says study leader Dr. Alan Silman, an epidemiologist with the University of Manchester.
