The Association of Autoimmune Disease With Lung Cancer Survival

Menée aux Etats-Unis à partir de données portant sur 349 patients atteints d'un cancer du poumon (âge moyen au diagnostic : 67 ans), cette étude de cohorte rétrospective analyse l'association entre une maladie auto-immune (polyarthrite rhumatoïde, lupus érythémateux disséminé, sclérose systémique, maladie mixte du tissu conjonctif, myosite) et la survie globale et la survie sans progression

Résumé en anglais

A number of studies have demonstrated that patients with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases are at heightened risk of the development of cancer, possibly due to factors such as aberrant immune function and surveillance, focal organ damage, and the use of immunomodulatory therapy. For example, 1 large study found that 13.5% of patients with lung cancer had an autoimmune disease diagnosed at any time before or after their cancer diagnosis. Despite the strong evidence associating autoimmune disease with lung cancer in particular, it is unclear how the presence of autoimmune disease affects morbidity and mortality in these patients. While some studies suggest that the presence of autoimmune disease adversely affects cancer-related outcomes, other studies have not substantiated these observations. In the current issue of JAMA Network Open, Jacob and colleagues compared lung cancer survival in patients with and without autoimmune disease and found no difference in survival between these 2 groups. Using a retrospective design of patients observed at a single academic center from 2003 to 2019, the authors identified 177 patients with biopsy-proven lung cancer and concomitant autoimmune disease and 219 patients with biopsy-proven lung cancer without autoimmune disease. Most patients were followed up for as long as 5 years after their cancer diagnosis. Only 14 and 19 patients in the autoimmune disease and control cohorts, respectively, were lost to follow-up during this time.