SLICC PI: Dr. Sasha Bernatsky

Malignancy

New Investigators: Dr. Omid Zahedi Niaki, Dr. Mary Lu, Dr. Basile Tessier Cloutier, Dr. Giordano Egiziano, Dr. Marius Diaconescu, and Dr. Kenjey Chan

Funding Source: Canadian Institute for Health Research and National Institutes of Health

The potential links between cancer and rheumatic diseases are indeed fascinating. Funded by NIH and CIHR, the SLICC group in collaboration with other international investigators has confirmed an altered cancer profile in systemic lupus (SLE) versus the general population. This altered profile includes an increased risk of some cancers in SLE (particularly non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, NHL) and a decreased risk of others (e.g. breast). Our case-cohort analyses so far, do not implicate SLE drugs as a strong risk factor, aside from cyclophosphamide, which may play a role in some hematologic cancers. We plan a new set of studies to update all these data sets, and to pursue novel objectives to assess if specific autoantibodies correlate with cancer risk. A significant number of publications attests to the efforts of this group lead by Dr. Sasha Bernatsky; the most relevant publications are noted below.