Kidney Transplant Boosts Cancer Risk

Some patients have a threefold increased risk of developing a variety of cancers after receiving a kidney transplant, Australian researchers report.Drugs used to prevent rejection of the new kidney by suppressing the body's immune system may be to blame for a bump in risk for nonmelanoma skin cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the rare skin malignancy known as Kaposi's sarcoma.After transplant, the overall incidence of cancer rose 3.27 times (this statistic excluded nonmelanoma skin cancer and cancers known to frequently cause end-stage kidney disease).Malignancies rose significantly at 25 body sites after transplant, and the risk exceeded threefold at 18 of these sites, the researchers reportThese cancers included melanoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia and cancers of the lip, tongue, mouth, salivary gland, esophagus, stomach, colon, anus, liver, gallbladder, lung, connective and other soft tissue, vulva, cervix, penis, eye and thyroid. There was also a significant increase in nasal cavity and vaginal cancers.The probable culprit: The immunosuppressive drugs transplant patients take lower their ability to fight off infections that can trigger malignancy. These medications today affect the entire immune system. There is hope that, in the future, these medications will be more selective and target only the part of the system responsible for rejecting the transplant.