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Azathioprine use has been associated with an increased risk for lymphoma in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an increased risk for other cancers in transplant patients, and a potentially protective effect against colorectal cancer in IBD patients. To assess the overall risk for malignancy among IBD patients treated with azathioprine, researchers analyzed data from 15,441 patients with IBD in the U.K.: 392 who received diagnoses of an incident cancer from 1987 through 2001 (cases) and 15,049 controls who did not develop cancer.
At least one prescription for azathioprine had been given to a modestly smaller percentage of cancer patients (10.5%) than controls (12.7%). However, receiving any prescription for azathioprine was assoc…