Organ transplant recipients may have increased risk for developing melanoma
Source: Oncology Nurse Advisor, August 2015
Organ transplant recipients are twice as likely to develop melanoma compared with people who do not receive a transplant, according to a new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
For the study, researchers at the National Cancer Institute analyzed data on 139,991 non-Hispanic white transplant recipients who participated in the Transplant Cancer match Study. Of those, there were 519 cases of melanoma. In another data set, researchers compared the outcomes of 182 patients with melanoma who received a transplant before diagnosis with over 130,000 other people with melanoma.
Results showed that over 15 years, 27% of the transplant recipients died of their cancer vs 12% of the non-recipients. The analysis also demonstrated that patients with melanoma who had underwent a transplant were 3 times more likely to die from melanoma compared with those did not receive a transplant. They also found that transplant recipients were 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with regional stage melanoma.
The findings suggest that immunosuppressive drugs that transplant recipients receive to prevent transplant rejection may increase the risk of late stage cancers that confer poorer outcomes.
Organ transplant recipients are twice as likely to develop melanoma as people who do not undergo a transplant, and three times more likely to die of the dangerous skin cancer, suggests new research led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health student. The findings, reported Aug.