Cancer and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies –association of autoantibodies with carcinogenesis

Abstract

The relationship between cancer development in the course of idiopathic inflammatorymyopathies (IIM) has already been noticed at the beginning of the 20th century. However, theunderlying mechanisms remain not fully understood. Risk factors for carcinogenesis in patientswith IIM include male sex, older age, and the presence of specific subtypes of inflammatorymyopathies and clinical manifestations, including dermatomyositis, dysphagia, severe skinchanges, leukocytoclastic vasculitis, acute disease onset and immunosuppressive therapyresistance. The presence of certain autoantibodies in the serum of patients with IIM is a factorof considerable importance in the stratification of cancer risk. Anti-TIF1γ autoantibodies, which might be present in even 38-80% of cancer cases in adult IIM patients, are antibodies with a wellstudiedrelationship with carcinogenesis. The relationship of other antibodies found in IIM withthe risk of carcinogenesis is still discussed. This group includes anti-NXP2, anti-HMGCR, anti-SAE1 and anti-Mi2 antibodies. Due to the contrary reports on the role of these antibodies incancer development and their relatively low prevalence in IIM, the unambiguous classificationas risk factors requires further research in larger study groups. The potential autoantibodiesutility in cancer screening in IIM patients could help detect cancer early, improving prognosisand long-term survival.