The risk of malignancies in RA patients treated with biologics.

Ever since biologics were introduced in the treatment of RA around 10 years ago, concerns about their safety profiles, including cancer, have been raised. In the case of cancer, these concerns are based on our incomplete understanding of the full effects of these drugs, or the pathways that they inhibit, and their relation to cancer. Thus, it has been difficult to formulate specific hypotheses regarding what to expect (Which cancer types? In which patients? When?), and it will take time until we feel confident that all relevant risks are well characterized. Through RCT meta-analyses and observational studies including the biologics registers, some data have emerged. So far, but with exceptions both in terms of risks observed and absence of data, the emerging picture is reassuring rather than alarming.