Ameta-analysis of breast cancer risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Several studies have suggested the decreased risk for breast cancer in patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) relative to the general population. However, other studies did not confirm theresults. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to explore a more comprehensive conclusion. A systematic literature search of electronic databases including, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase,Cochrane Library, and Scopus was conducted to identify relevant articles. The pooled SIR with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to estimate the strength of association between SLE and breastcancer incidence risk. A total of 16 eligible studies including 88979 patients with SLE were enrolled in this study. The combined results showed that SLE patients had no decreased or increased risk forbreast cancer incidence (SIRs = 0.99 (95% CI, 0.75–1.31)). Subgroup analysis by study type, ethnicity, follow‑up years, sample size and SLE diagnostic criteria also showed no altered risk for breast cancer incidence. This meta-analysis suggested no direct association between SLE and breast cancer risk. However further studies with larger sample size are required for more reliable conclusions