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  • What We're Working On
Inflammatory Arthritis from Cancer Immunotherapy: A Canada-Wide Study
Research_Inflammatory-Arthritis-from-Cancer-Immunotherapy_425x296
Scientific Study Title:
Gaining Insight into Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Associated Inflammatory Arthritis Using Administrative Health Data
Start Date:
  • 2025
End Date:
  • 2029
Research Category
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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.

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

How Can People Get 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.

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