Cancer Risk in Patients Treated with the JAK Inhibitor Tofacitinib: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Simple Summary Tofacitinib is a relatively novel therapy for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ulcerative colitis. It is a small-molecule drug that exerts its effects by inhibiting Janus kinases. Recently, concerns have been raised about the drug's safety in terms of cardiovascular side effects and cancer risk. This meta-analysis determined the risk of cancer in patients treated with tofacitinib for different clinical indications, compared to both a placebo and other therapies. We did not find any difference in the cancer risk between tofacitinib and either the placebo or biological drugs overall. In contrast, we found only a slightly higher risk of cancer in patients treated with tofacitinib compared with the patients treated with drugs that inhibit the tumor necrosis factor. Therefore, further studies are needed to better define the cancer risk of tofacitinib therapy. Tofacitinib is approved for several immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, but safety concerns have recently been raised. We searched PubMed (accessed on 27 February 2023) for original articles regarding tofacitinib's cancer risk when used for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. Of the 2047 initial records, 22 articles describing 26 controlled studies (including 22 randomized controlled trials) were selected. In the comparison between tofacitinib and any control treatment, the relative risk (RR) for any cancer was 1.06 (95% CI, 0.86-1.31; p = 0.95). In separate comparisons between tofacitinib and either a placebo or biological therapy, no difference was found in the overall cancer risk (vs. placebo, RR = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.44-2.48; p = 0.95; vs. biological drugs, RR = 1.06; 95% CI, 0.86-1.31; p = 0.58). When tofacitinib was compared to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, the overall cancer RR was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.06-2.08; p = 0.02). Similarly, significant results were obtained for all cancers, except for non-melanoma skin cancer (RR = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.05-2.06; p = 0.03), and for this skin cancer alone (RR = 1.30; 95% CI, 0.22-5.83; p = 0.88). In conclusion, no difference in the overall cancer risk was found between tofacitinib and either a placebo or biological drugs, while a slightly higher risk was found in patients treated with tofacitinib than anti-TNF agents. Further studies are needed to better define the cancer risk of tofacitinib therapy.

Automated summary

Tofacitinib is a novel therapy for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, but safety concerns regarding cardiovascular side effects and cancer risk have been raised. This meta-analysis compared the cancer risk of tofacitinib with a placebo and other therapies and found no significant difference in overall cancer risk. However, a slightly higher risk of cancer was observed in patients treated with tofacitinib compared to those treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Further studies are needed to better understand the cancer risk of tofacitinib therapy.