Trevor Winter

Publication Details

• Use of thiopurines in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease is associated with an increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in an at-risk population: a cohort study.

  Setshedi M, Epstein D, Winter TA, Myer L, Watermeyer G, Hift R. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012; 27 (2): 385-9

  The thiopurines azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are effective in the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in whom aminosalicylates, antibiotics and corticosteroids have failed to induce or maintain remission. Long-term use of these agents has been linked to a greatly increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer and lymphatic cancer in organ transplant recipients. There is some evidence to suggest that IBD patients receiving thiopurines might be at increased risk of cancer. Our aim was to determine the incidence of cancer in a cohort of patients with IBD managed in our clinic, and to relate this to thiopurine exposure.

  PubMedID: 21793904