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RA Treatment & Liver Cancer

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occurs when someone's immune system begins to attack his joints, causing severe pain and inflammation. While effective for slowing the progression of RA, some of the treatments for the disease pose a risk for side effects, increasing the risk of liver cancer.

  1. Treatment Types

    • Doctors often prescribe a class of medications known as disease-modifying drugs for RA, which include methotrexate, leflunomide and sulfasalazine. These medications suppress the immune system, preventing it from causing inflammation of the joints, explains the Mayo Clinic.

    Risks of Treatment

    • The disease-modifying drugs methotrexate, leflunomide and sulfasalazine have the potential to cause toxic effects upon the liver, which may result in scarring of the organ, which is known as cirrhosis. Patients taking disease-modifying drugs may develop cirrhosis of the liver may occur within as little as six months, reports the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

    Effects of Cirrhosis

    • Cirrhosis of the liver caused by RA treatment poses a risk for a variety of health complications. Amongst these is an increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, warns the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

    Prevention

    • In order to prevent harmful effects upon the liver, doctors are likely to prescribe blood tests to check the functioning of the liver every one to two months, reports the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

    Considerations

    • It may not be safe for patients with other risk factor for cirrhosis--such as a history of alcoholism, hepatitis, fatty liver disease, cystic fibrosis or alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency--to take the disease-modifying drugs for RA. Instead, other treatments for the condition may be beneficial like the immuno-suppressant drug cyclosporine.

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