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. 2025 Feb 27;9(1):27.
doi: 10.1186/s41927-025-00477-z.

Neoplasm related mortality risk in Systemic Sclerosis: a nationwide study

María Martínez-Urbistondo  1 , Antonio González-Guzmán  1 , Román Fernández-Guitián  1 , Xiomara Patricia Blanco-Valencia  2 , Jorge Esteban-Sampedro  1 , Mario Martín-Portugués  1 , Pedro Durán-Del Campo  1 , Pablo Tutor  1 , Susana Mellor-Pita  1 , Alfonso Ortega-de la Puente  2 , Marina de la Cruz-Echeandía  2 , Víctor Moreno-Torres  3   4
Affiliations

Neoplasm related mortality risk in Systemic Sclerosis: a nationwide study

María Martínez-Urbistondo et al. BMC Rheumatol. .

Abstract

Background: The higher mortality rates in patients with Systemic sclerosis (SSc) are related to SSc activity, cardiovascular disease, and neoplasms, among other factors. Our objective was to assess the impact of solid organ neoplasms (SON) and hematological neoplasms (HN) on mortality among SSc patients.

Methods: A retrospective, observational comparison of SON and HN-related deaths in SSc patients with those in the general Spanish population was conducted using data from the Spanish Hospital Discharge Database. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the impact of SSc on mortality risk from each neoplasm.

Results: During 2016-2019, 139,531 in-hospital deaths from neoplasms were certified in Spain (67 in patients with SSc). Malignancies accounted for 9.7% of all deaths in SSc patients, and disease activity for 11.5% (p > 0.05). Compared to the general Spanish population, patients with SSc had a higher death ratio from lung neoplasms (18.6 vs. 25.4%, OR = 2.228, 95% CI 1.260-3.937), gynecological neoplasms (3 vs. 13.4%, OR = 4.804, 95%CI 2.372-9.730), attributable to the increased risk of uterine tumors (0.9 vs. 4.5%, OR = 6.177, 95% CI 1.931-19.758) and ovarian carcinomas (1.3 vs. 4.5%, OR = 3.456, 95% CI 1.083-11.032), and from T/NK lineage lymphomas (0.3 vs. 3.0%, OR = 8.955 95% CI: 2.181-36.767).

Conclusion: The detection of chronic comorbidities such as cancer is emerging as a noteworthy component of standard care for SSc patients. This can be addressed during their follow up or even in specific screening programs aimed at achieving better long-term quality of life and prognosis.

Keywords: Gynecological neoplasms; Lung cancer; Lymphoma; Neoplasm-related mortality risk; Systemic sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval: The study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the local research ethics committee (Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, expedient number PI 80-21). Consent to participate: The data were provided after all potential patient identifiers had been deleted and data were given anonymously. Due to the design of the study, and according to Spanish law, informed consent was not required. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Solid organ neoplasms related deaths for SSc patients. The figure represents the risk of dying from solid organ neoplasms for SSc patients, after adjustment by age, sex, alcohol and tobacco consumption, for each neoplasm lineage. The results are expressed in Odds ratio (dots) and 95% confidence interval (bars)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Hematological neoplasms related deaths for SSc patients. The figure represents the risk of dying from hematological neoplasms for SSc patients, after adjustment by age, sex, alcohol and tobacco consumption, for each neoplasm lineage. The results are expressed in Odds ratio (dots) and 95% confidence interval (bars)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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