According to Health Central, despite some small increases in cancer risk, the benefits of RA medications largely outweigh any potential downside.

Possible side effects need to be carefully considered before deciding to take any medication, and if your doctor has suggested starting medications to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the same applies. The risks of taking those medications need to be weighed against the risks of not taking them, which in the case of RA could result in uncontrolled inflammation. Then again, you may have read that some RA meds raise your risk of cancer. Confused, concerned, and wondering about your next steps? 

Early studies of TNF inhibitors showed a higher risk of cancer but that really hasn’t panned out in the latest studies, says Ann R. Bass, MD. What happened? “When you tease apart the earlier studies, we see that people who received this treatment early on, were most likely the sickest of patients, which meant they also had a lot of cancer risk factors,” Dr. Bass explained.

Overall, the news is good. “Most RA medications are quite safe according to large studies,” said Dr. Bass. “And big studies are needed because cancer is relatively rare so you need to study large numbers of patients over many years,” she explained, adding that patients should feel reassured by these studies.

Read the full article at healthcentral.com.