Antimalarials may reduce cancer risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies
Xian‐Bao Li, Nv‐Wei Cao, Xiu‐Jie Chu, Hao‐Yue Zhou, Hua Wang, Si-Jie Yu, YE Dong-qing, Bao‐Zhu Li
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of antimalarials on cancer risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from their inception to October 3, 2020. Relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used to evaluate the results. Subgroup analyses were used to assess heterogeneity. A funnel plot was used to explore publication bias. STATA was applied for all analyses. RESULTS: = .671). On disease course- and comorbidities-matched studies, the pooled RRs were 0.69 (95% CI: 0.52-0.93) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.46-0.75), respectively. CONCLUSION: Results of this meta-analysis showed that antimalarial drugs might be protective factors for cancer in SLE. Hydroxychloroquine might be a protective factor for cancer in SLE patients.KEY MESSAGESAntimalarials might be protective factors for cancer in SLE.Hydroxychloroquine might be a protective factor for cancer in SLE patients.The first article to perform the meta-analysis of antimalarial drugs on the risk of cancer in SLE patients.