A number of case reports describe the association of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL Abs) with hematological and solid organ malignancies. Especially in elderly patients, thrombotic events associated with aPL Abs can be the first manifestation of malignancy. Cancer-associated monoclonal gammopathy of the IgM type can be accompanied by positive lupus anticoagulant (LA) or an anticardiolipin (aCL) IgM. Cancer and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) can coexist in sporadic cases, while some cancer patients with or without thrombosis may show some transitory aPL Ab positivity, the most striking symptomatic clinical feature, catastrophic APS, being even described in cancer patients. Some reports suggest a significant incidence of malignancies in APS patients. Cancer was the 2nd cause of death (13.9%), after bacterial infection, during the 10-year follow-up of the 1,000 APS patients studied by the Euro-Phospholipid Project Group, but no control group was simultaneously evaluated. The risk of cancer in patients with APS is thus still uncertain. The Nîmes Obstetricians and Haematologists APS (NOH-APS) study was based on the recruitment of a cohort of women with no history of thrombosis, who had experienced pregnancy loss fulfilling the clinical criteria of obstetrical APS (oAPS), who were either positive for aPL Abs (APS group), or positive for the F5 rs6025 or F2 rs1799963 polymorphism (Thrombophilia group), or negative for thrombophilia screening (Control group). We now want to assess the comparative incidence of cancer in women for whom an oAPS diagnosis had been made. This evaluation will be carried out during the 2017 medical follow-up step, corresponding to a median follow-up of 17 years. An external, local population-derived control group, the registry of tumors in Montpellier area (Registre des Tumeurs de l'Hérault) will be used to compute standardized incidence ratios (SIRs).
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Comparison of the incidence of cancer diagnosis
Timeframe: 2017