Originally published October 11 2005
Study connects melanoma risk to kidney transplants
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study led by Christopher Hollenbeak, Ph.D., associate professor at Penn State College of Medicine, suggests that recipients of kidney transplants are four times more at risk than the general population to develop the form of skin cancer known as melanoma.
The study, to be published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (Nov.1, 2005 issue), indicates increased risk for patients who undergo kidney transplantation and who receive long-term immuno-suppression.
Furthermore, risk was highest overall in men -increasing with age- but significantly lower in women and African-Americans.
"The take-home message is that kidney transplant patients-especially men-should have a regular, complete skin examination as part of their routine health care," says Hollenbeak.
"In addition, kidney transplant recipients should be educated about melanoma and instructed on the importance of routine self-examination."
In the largest study to date, Hollenbeak and his colleagues compared melanoma incidence rates from a registry of renal transplant patients (89,786 patients) to melanoma incidence rates from general population data.
The classic risk factors for melanoma are ultraviolet radiation, commonly caused by sunburns, a suppressed immune system, and family history of abnormal moles.
Prior studies have shown that patients taking immunosuppressants after organ transplantation to be at higher risk for all cancers, but disagree that there is a link to higher risk of skin cancer.
Low incidence of disease means that more people need to be studied to discern a true link between immunosupressants and a greater risk for melanoma.
They found that renal transplant recipients are 3.6 times more likely to develop melanoma than the general population.
In contrast, while female kidney transplant recipients are also at increased risk, their risk is significantly lower than men and does not increase with age.
"Kidney transplant patients, who are receiving long-term immunosuppression," conclude Hollenbeak and his colleagues, "have a 3.6-fold increase in the incidence of melanoma when compared to the general population," and should receive regular complete skin examinations.
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