Inflammatory Arthritis from Cancer Immunotherapy: A Canada-Wide Study

 

Scientific Study Title:

Gaining Insight into Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Associated Inflammatory Arthritis Using Administrative Health Data

 

 

Study Start Date:  

2025

 

 

End Date:

2029

 

 

Why Do This Research?

Immunotherapy is a powerful cancer treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. Sometimes, immunotherapy can cause the immune system to mistakenly attack healthy parts of the body, such as the joints. This is known as immune checkpoint inhibitor induced inflammatory arthritis. Right now, we don’t know much about who gets inflammatory arthritis from immunotherapy, how common it is, or how to best treat or prevent it.

Canada has a unique advantage in studying this problem because it has a national database of confirmed cases of immune checkpoint inhibitor induced inflammatory arthritis. Understanding this better can help patients and doctors make safer, more informed decisions about cancer treatments.

 

 

What Will Be Done?

First, we will figure out the best way to find cases of immune checkpoint inhibitor induced inflammatory arthritis using existing health records. We will then test these methods using confirmed cases from a specialized Canadian database. Once we know which method works best, we will use it to look at large groups of people across several provinces to see how common immune checkpoint inhibitor induced inflammatory arthritis is, who is most at risk, and what happens to those who get it.

 

 

Who Is Involved?

Patients enrolled in the CanRIO database, as well as all individuals in five provinces (BC, AB, ON, QC, NS) who have been treated with immunotherapy for cancer.

 

 

How Are Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Addressed or Taken Into Consideration? 

This study will allow us to understand immunotherapy-associated inflammatory arthritis at a population level, representing the full spectrum of disease across multiple provinces in Canada.

 

 

How Will/ Have Patients Contribute to This Research?

Patients from across Canada have generously consented to contribute their health information to the CanRIO database, enabling this crucial research to proceed. Patient partners have helped to shape the research questions and will be integral in knowledge dissemination efforts.

 

 

The Research Team

Principal Investigators:

Carrie Ye, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Research Scientist, Arthritis Research Canada (University of Alberta)

 

 

Co-investigators:

Sasha Bernatsky, MD, PhD (McGill University)

Aurore Fifi-Mah, MD (University of Calgary)

Michelle Graham, MD (University of Alberta)

Marie Hudson, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Research Scientist, Arthritis Research Canada, (McGill University)

Shahin Jamal, MD, FRCPC, MSc, Clinician Investigator, Arthritis Research Canada, (University of British Columbia)

William Leslie, MD, MSc (University of Manitoba)

Lisa Lix, MSc, PhD (University of Manitoba)

Finlay Mcalister, MD, MSc (University of Alberta)

Suzanne Morin, MD, MSc (McGill University)

Janet Pope, MD, MPH (Western University)

Janet Roberts, MD, MPH, FRCP, Clinical Investigator, Arthritis Research Canada, (Dalhousie University)

John Walker, MD (University of Alberta)

 

 

Who Funded This Research?

Canadian Institutes of Health Research