Androgen deprivation therapy and the risk of tenosynovitis in prostate cancer patients

Objectives: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) use in prostate cancer (PCa) patients has been reported to have an association with rheumatoid arthritis. We aimed to assess the impact of ADT on the subsequent risk of tenosynovitis. Methods: Using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan between 2001 and 2013, 3309 patients with PCa were identified. Among them, 729 ADT patients comprised the study group with 729 matched non-ADT controls. We used a 1:1 propensity score matched analysis. The demographic characteristics and comorbidities of the patients were analyzed; Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate the hazard ratios (HR) for the risk of tenosynovitis. Results: There were 224 (15.3%) patients with newly diagnosed tenosynovitis. Compared with non-ADT patients, ADT patients had a lower risk of subsequent tenosynovitis with an adjusted HR of 0.38 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28–0.51; P < 0.001]. Conclusions: ADT use apparently did not increase the risk of tenosynovitis in patients with PCa. Further studies are warranted to assess the clinical significance.