A claims-based analysis published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology found that overall cancer incidence was low and comparable across four major classes of advanced IBD therapies. The retrospective study included 15,687 adults with IBD who initiated TNF antagonists, vedolizumab, anti-interleukin therapies or JAK inhibitors between 2016 and 2023.
Over a median 2.6 years of follow-up, three-year cumulative cancer incidence was 2.1% with TNF antagonists, 2.7% with vedolizumab, 2.0% with anti-interleukins and 2.5% with JAK inhibitors. After adjustment, none of the three newer therapy classes had a statistically significant difference in cancer risk compared with TNF antagonists.
Siddharth Singh, MD, MS, corresponding author and professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic Arizona, described the findings as reassuring across treatment classes.
Importantly, the authors caution that the results do not establish equivalent long-term safety. The JAK inhibitor group was small (384 patients), cancer events were relatively few, follow-up was limited, and claims data cannot fully capture factors such as family history or prior colonic dysplasia. Longer-term studies are needed, particularly for newer agents and rare, long-latency cancers.