Treating rheumatic patients with a malignancy

Table 1 Survival and characteristics of cancer

Tumor site	European average 5-year survival [63, 64]	Tumor category (WHO)^a	Risk of relapse^b [53, 54, 59–61]	Recurrence rate after transplantation [53, 54, 59–61]
Pancreas	5.7%	5	-	-
Liver	9.1%	2	-	-
Esophagus	11.1%	3	-	-
Lung	12.0%	3	-	-
Gallbladder and biliary tract	14.4%	5	-	-
Brain	19.7%		-	-
Stomach	24.5%	3	-	-
Multiple myeloma	35.1%		+++	>25%
Ovary and uterine adnexa	36.5%	2	-	-
Head and neck	39.5%	3	-	-
All leukemias	42.4%	1 and 3	-	-
NHL	51.5%	1	+	Up to 10%
Colorectal	54.0%	2	++	11%-25%
Bone and cartilage	55.5%	3	+++	>25%
Kidney	58.0%		+++	>25%
Soft tissue sarcoma	59.5%	2	+++	>25%
Cervix uteri	62.6%	3	+	Up to 10%
Bladder	72.4%	3	+++	>25%
Larynx	62.8%	4
Corpus uteri	76.2%	3	++	11%-25%
Prostate	76.4%	3	++	11%-25%
Breast	79.4%	2	++	11%-25%
Hodgkin	80.1%	1	+	Up to 10%
Melanoma of skin	82.6%	5	+++	>25%
Thyroid	82.9%	5	+	Up to 10%
Testis	89.5%	1	+	Up to 10%

^aCategory 1: These tumors are characterized by their principal curability; that is, the use of single or combination drug therapy will result in the cure of at least some patients. Category 2: For these cancers, the survival is prolonged when adjuvant chemotherapy is used with surgery or radiotherapy in the early stages. Category 3: These are neoplasms, for which there is evidence that the use of a single drug or combination of drugs will cause tumor shrinkage and possibly improve quality of life; survival may be prolonged but this may be of short duration. Category 4: The local control of these malignancies may be improved by the use of chemotherapy before, during, or after surgery or radiotherapy. Category 5: These are tumors for which there are currently no effective drugs. ^bRisk of relapse is categorized as low (+), intermediate (++), or high (+++). NHL, non-Hodgkin lymphoma; WHO, World Health Organization.

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