Transplantation and Malignant Melanoma
Solid organ transplantation, although lifesaving for patients with end-stage renal, liver, or heart disease, requires chronic immunosuppressive therapy that increases the risk for cancer, including lymphoma and skin cancer.[1] In this context, skin cancers arising in organ transplant recipients are more frequent, more aggressive,[2] and more likely to be malignant melanomas.[3]
Renal transplant recipients are up to 5 times more likely to develop malignant melanoma compared with the general population,[4] and those with melanoma are more likely to die of their disease.[5] Hence, early detection is of paramount importance in this high-risk population. But are some renal transplant recipients more likely than others to develop malignant melanoma?
To address this important question, Ascha and colleagues[6] conducted a large cohort study of 105,174 renal transplant recipients between 2004 and 2012 (United States Renal Data System; 60.7% men; mean age, 49.6 years). Their aim was to identify the incidence of malignant melanoma and risk factors in this vulnerable population.
Study Findings
The key study findings included the following:
In this cohort, renal transplant recipients were 4.9 times more likely than the general US population to develop malignant melanoma (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data from the National Cancer Institute, 2005-2012);
