Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and malignancy.

Biologic agents represent a major advance in the treatment of JIA. In 2008 a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning raised the hypothesis that anti-TNF therapies may be associated with anincreased incidence of malignancies in children. More recent data seem to suggest that JIA itself, as in the case of RA, is associated with an increased risk of malignancy and that this risk is not further increased with anti-TNF treatment. However, only long-term prospective data on a very large number of patients will provide a definite answer. This article summarizes the current evidence in order to help health professionals properly advise patients and their families about the possible risk of malignancies in JIA treated with biologic agents.