Research
New Study from the AIDA Network Registries Explores the Link Between VEXAS Syndrome and Cancer
A new study based on data from the international AIDA Network registries has recently been published, providing important insights into the association between VEXAS syndrome and cancer risk.
Link to article
The research aimed to clarify whether patients with VEXAS are more likely to develop both hematologic and non-hematologic malignancies compared with individuals affected by other autoinflammatory diseases.
The study analyzed data from patients with VEXAS syndrome and a large control cohort including subjects with Still’s disease, Behçet’s disease, and Schnitzler’s syndrome. To reduce potential bias, the analysis focused on individuals over 60 years of age. Overall, VEXAS patients were found to have almost double the risk of developing cancer compared with controls.
Further analyses showed that cancer development was more frequently observed in patients with relapsing polychondritis, the p.Met41Thr UBA1 mutation, and persistently elevated inflammatory markers, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lactate dehydrogenase levels outside of disease flares.
These findings suggest that malignancies in VEXAS syndrome may represent only the “tip of the iceberg” of a broader disease spectrum, emphasizing the need for careful oncological surveillance and long-term monitoring in this patient population.
Once again, this publication highlights the crucial role of the AIDA Network registries in advancing collaborative research and improving knowledge on rare and complex autoinflammatory diseases.