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Organ Transplant Recipients Have Higher Cancer Risk

Sep 2, 2009 by TacticularCancer.com

Melanoma is the deadliest of the various types of skin cancer. Typical risk factors are sunburns, a weak immune system and family history of abnormal moles. Previous studies drawing a link between organ transplants and melanoma risk had been inconsistent, possibly because it was more difficult to spot trends due to the relatively low incidence rates of this particular cancer.

2. Kidney Transplant Recipients and 20 Different Types of Cancer

An article published in The Lancet in mid 2007 revealed that HIV / AIDS patients and kidney transplant recipients had a higher risk of developing some 20 different kinds of cancer as compared to the general population.

For kidney transplant recipients, they were almost 4 times as likely to get Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and they also had significantly higher risks for developing cervical cancer as well as cancers of the mouth, penis and anus. In addition, kidney recipients were 208 times more likely to get Kaposi’s sarcoma. This sounds alarming, until we realize that HIV / AID patients were 3,640 times more likely to get this disease.

The key probably lies in compromised immune systems and the susceptibility of both groups of people to viruses. “The only thing that people with AIDS and transplant recipients share is immune deficiency, otherwise their risk factors for cancer differ markedly. In other cancers, which are not linked with viruses, such as breast and prostate cancer, both groups had similar rates to the general population,” said Professor Andrew Grulich from the University of New South Wales’ National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR), who led the study. Indeed, according to him, “this evidence suggests that immune deficiency is associated with risk of cancer”.

3. Liver Transplant Recipients and Various Types of Cancer

A study in Finland which was published in the October 2008 issue of Liver Transplantation found that liver transplant recipients were 2.59 times more likely to get non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, while their risks for non-melanoma skin cancer and basal cell carcinoma were also significantly raised.

The study, led by Helena Isoniemi from Finland, examined 540 cases of liver transplant patients from Helsinki University Central Hospital who had received their new organs between 1982 and 2005. It also used data from the Finnish Population Register as well as the national Cancer Registry.

“Based on our data, one out of six liver transplant patients is estimated to develop some form of cancer by 20 years after transplantation. This study points out the importance of cancer surveillance after liver transplantation,” said the study team.

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