Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis May Raise Kids' Cancer Risk

Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), the most common form of childhood arthritis, may be at higher risk of developing cancer than children who do not have the condition, according to a new study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Researchers identified 7,812 children with JIA and compared them with thousands of children not affected by JIA and found that the arthritic children developed about four times as many new growths considered likely to be cancerous as children who did not have arthritis. They followed the children for about 18 months.