Seronegative RA Disease Activity (7.17.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and Gout features from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Systemic sclerosis metanalysis of 31 studies (32,134 pts) shows malignancy risk signif increased (SIR 1.66; CI 1.32 - 2.08). Highest: esophageal, liver, cervical, lung, & Heme (SIR 3.35 - 13.95). 7.4 yr mean from SSc to CA dx. https://t.co/IhxvfkMqkf https://t.co/dTFjD4iqth
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Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Guidelines to Spot Cancer in High Risk Dermatomyositis
International guidelines can help identify dermatomyositis patients with a particularly high risk for cancer, according to a retrospective single-center U.S. study.
https://t.co/h4jFi2Ph1M https://t.co/BueumKCYHY
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Guidelines to Spot Cancer in High Risk Dermatomyositis
MedPage Today
International guidelines can help identify dermatomyositis patients with a particularly high risk for cancer, according to a retrospective single-center U.S. study.
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Long-term Cancer Risk with Targeted Therapy in SpA
Dr. Antoni Chan reports on abstract OP0238 presented at EULAR 2026 in London
https://t.co/f67SvKI6Vk https://t.co/fPp2H0aMoK
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
EULAR 2026 Rheumatology RoundUp
It’s time for Rheumatology RoundUp from EULAR 2026 from London, UK. Drs. Artie Kavanaugh and Jack Cush review their choice presentations from the meeting, offering their perspectives on impact and applicability.
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Large French nationwide cohort (n=56,591 SpA patients) showed that >6 months/year of targeted therapy exposure was associated with reduced overall cancer risk (wHR 0.86), especially for haematological malignancies (wHR 0.65). Reassuring long-term safety signal. Abstr OP0238
Antoni Chan MD (Prof) @synovialjoints( View Tweet )
Sarcoidosis increases the risk of MGUS and multiple myeloma. Propensity matched Data from a large global collaborative network study with 40k pts.
POS0231 #EULAR2026 @RheumNow https://t.co/mygYCjigFV
Bella Mehta @bella_mehta( View Tweet )
Management of rheumatologic immune-related adverse events (irAEs), inflammatory conditions triggered by immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) cancer therapy
Abstr OP0358 @RheumNow #EULAR2026 https://t.co/hnU7L7RnU8
Antoni Chan MD (Prof) @synovialjoints( View Tweet )
🎗️ Do targeted therapies raise cancer risk in SpA?
French nationwide cohort (n=56,591): NO
In fact, prolonged exposure REDUCES risk (wHR 0.86), especially haematological.
#OP0238 #EULAR2026 @RheumNow https://t.co/dDveAmWpdX
Nelly ZIADE 🍀 @Nellziade( View Tweet )
#OP0238: French SNDS cohort found longer exposure to targeted therapies in SpA (>6months) was assoc with a lower overall cancer risk vs shorter exposure, esp for haematologic malignancies. Data add to long-term safety evidence for targeted therapies in SpA. #EULAR2026 @RheumNow
Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )
#OP0225 at #EULAR2026: In this nationwide French cohort, patients with IMIDs had nearly 2x risk of HPV-related cancers or severe dysplasia versus matched controls. Risk was particularly increased in SLE, reinforcing the importance of HPV vaccination and screening. @RheumNow
Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )
JAK Safety Debate Continues: Stronger VTE signal, less clear cancer signal
Few topics in rheumatology have reshaped prescribing behaviour as dramatically as the safety concerns surrounding JAK inhibitors following ORAL Surveillance and the subsequent FDA and EMA warnings.
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#OP090 at #EULAR2026: In this nationwide Danish study, RA patients with lung cancer had similar survival outcomes to patients without RA. Importantly, immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment did not appear to worsen outcomes in patients with pre-existing RA. @RheumNow
Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )
#OP087 explored cancer polygenic risk scores (PRS) in RA. RA was assoc with lower risks of breast and colorectal cancer across all PRS categories, while high prostate cancer PRS may identify RA patients with increased early prostate cancer diagnoses. @RheumNow #EULAR2026 https://t.co/WMqqSFADlW
Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )
Cancer risk with JAK inhibitors remains a major focus at #EULAR2026. In #OP086, analysis from 14 international RA registries and >60000 treatment courses found no statistically significant increase in overall or subtype-specific malignancy risk with JAKi versus TNFi. @RheumNow https://t.co/JeOmTufYwo
Mrinalini Dey @DrMiniDey( View Tweet )
Veterans Administration study of 301 #RA pts Rx w/ immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) for cancer shows all cause mortality in ICI Rx Cancer pts was no worse when RA pts took ICIs (1.09; 0.94–1.25). Cause of death similar; Infx were rare (<1.0%) https://t.co/3ZYujU5nyE https://t.co/MCDcdWHcVx
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Count Your Telangiectasias (5.29.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and missed quiz questions.
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In this week's RheumIQ quiz: An RA patient has a current or new cancer. With which cancer should you avoid/stop the use of a TNF inhibitor? See if you got it right at https://t.co/DTabBEfjj9 https://t.co/tVYUEjAPy3
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Medicare analysis of RA pts w/ metastatic nonsmall cell lung CA (mNSCLC) looked at 663 ICI-treated pts - 46% Rx w/ glucocorticoids (median Pred 6.6 mg/d). GC use was not associated with survival outcomes https://t.co/mwQeAgyKTC https://t.co/SR2XRD5Rhx
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
A Patient’s Plea for a New Paradigm in Autoimmune Disease
A current article in Nature Reviews Rheumatology has a patient boldly asking why we rheumatologists aren't more like her oncologists?
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Which autoimmune condition carries the highest relative risk for lymphoma? Test your knowledge in the latest RheumIQ quiz at https://t.co/TBlB4pmnKa https://t.co/sx8fpdHgHN
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Neoplasia and Autoimmune Disease
Malignancy rivals cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of death in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases. Chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation can drive oncogenesis, while antitumor immune responses can trigger autoimmune phenomena (paraneoplastic syndromes, checkpoint
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Aspirin Cardiovascular Prevention in Giant Cell Arteritis
A retrospective target trial emulations has shown that low-dose aspirin (ASA) given with a giant cell arteritis (GCA) diagnosis is associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), but a higher risk of GI bleeding.
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Malignancies Not Increased with Biologic Therapies
The risk of malignancy in RA patients receiving biologic agents was evaluated by metanalysis of RCTs and found no significant increased risk of malignancy compared with other DMARDs or with placebo.
https://t.co/ZEO4jP5RwA https://t.co/C1YeTSh7ZN
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Recent Blogs
Cancer is the most difficult DMARD risk to discuss with patients. Few warnings could scare people away from a drug faster than the words “may increase risk of cancer,” yet the risks (even when substantiated) have all been low and may be counterbalanced by the benefits of disease control.
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Imagine that 100 years from now, your great granddaughter, an eminent rheumatologist, reviews the history of rheumatoid arthritis mimics.
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The quality of the meeting was on par with the host city, with extensive data presented on a range of topics, from social media to drug safety. The organization committee did a great job and I got the feeling that most people felt the congress was user friendly given the magnitude of the event. During this year’s meeting, I had the privilege of working with the RheumNow team, which gave me the opportunity to hone my social media skills and get my Twitter game on. After reviewing plenty of posters and going to numerous presentations, here are my top take home messages as classified by disease state.
Podcasts
EULAR 2021 - Day2b00:35:57
