Incidence of Post Transplant Malignancies in Renal Transplant Recipients: Single Center Experience

Abstract

The incidence of malignancy in transplant recipients is known to be higher than that in the general population. However, the types of malignancies vary geographically, and the relative risks for malignancy in transplant recipients are different, compared with that of the general population. We investigated the incidence and characteristics of malignancies after renal transplantation in a single center analysis. A total of 2740 renal recipients who underwent transplantation between June 1990 and Dec 2010 were enrolled in this retrospective study. During the follow-up period, 153 post-transplant malignancies were developed in 148 of 2740 patients. 24 of 148 patients were died from malignancy. The cumulative incidence of cancer at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years was 0.58%, 3.1%, 7.2%, 13.2 %, and 25% respectively. The post-transplant malignancies were detected from 3 to 226 months after transplantation, with a mean duration of 78.1 ± 55.0 months. Post-transplant lymhoproliferative disorder (PTLD) [18 (11.7%)] was the most common malignancy. Risk of Kaposi sarcoma, PTLD, skin cancer, uterine cancer, urologic malignancy, biliary tract cancer, and breast cancer were more than 10-times higher in KT recipients than general population. In conclusion, the incidence of post transplant malignancy increased rapidly with laps of time following transplantation and related with duration of immunosuppressant exposure. A more vigorous cancer surveillance program should be adapted to detect early cancer in early stage especially in long term follow up patients.