Solid organ transplant patients may be at higher risk for skin cancer and require coordinated care (Several hundred times higher risk)

Medical Xpress / Mayo Clinic / Mayo Clinic Proceedings ^ | Dec. 6, 2022 | Jay Furst / Hannah Berman et al

[ConservativeMind]

I had no idea the risk was so incredibly high, nor that our bodies normally dispense so easily with potential skin cancers.

Please get checked often, if you are a transplant recipient.

[ConservativeMind]

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List
This high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to immediately implement for your benefit.

Email me to get on either the “Common/Top Issues” (20 - 25% fewer pings) or “Everything” list.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

The organization that encourages organ donations has a float in the Rose Parade.

The float is mostly a Chinese dragon.

How inappropriate is that?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Look up Xeroderma Pigmentosum.

And say a little prayer for the kids born with it.

[moovova]

We’re the donors jabbees?

[tinamina]

I took my sister twice last week to the dermatologist to get skin cancers biopsied, cut off and frozen. Extremely painful for her to have these so often. They are fast growing and they are extremely numerous. They mainly grow on her feet and her hands. She has never had one on her face but she did have one on the bottom of her foot which needed a skin graft a few years ago.
She has been a kidney transplant patient for 32 years and has been on prednisone for all that time. She had the same doctors in South Carolina all those years until recently moving to Florida when they lowered the dose. After 32 years. But the skin cancers are there and they are pervasive and very painful.

[ConservativeMind]

This brought tears to my eyes:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeroderma_pigmentosum

No cure, and half the life span of others.

[telescope115]

THANK YOU for posting this!
I just visited my doctor today with skin issues. He removed one growth on my scalp for biopsy, leaving 3 others for now (one on my back).
I had transplant surgery last year, and I had been wondering about long term effects of my meds. He even said that my Tacrolimus could cause skin problems.
Now I’m waiting for the results of the biopsy, and I will be very observant of what is going on with my skin…
A little knowledge can be very informative.

[telescope115]

Do you remember what organization that was?

[telescope115]

It’s very distressing seeing the pictures of those poor kids suffering. I prayed that Jesus touch them and heal them. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.

[telescope115]

Prayers for her as well. 32 years is a long time to be dealing with that.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Donate Life Float:

Irony Personified

[higgmeister]

What is a solid organ transplant versus an organ transplant?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

What is a solid organ transplant versus an organ transplant?

Solid Organ Transplant
SOT
Transplantation of a solid organ: kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, intestine (including the esophagus, stomach, small or large intestine, or any portion of the gastrointestinal tract), or vascularized composite allograft.

An organ transplant is the same thing. Not sure why they want to stick "solid" in there.

There is another type of transplant "Stem Cell Transplant" which is also commonly known as a bone marrow transplant.

[waterhill]

I had an ACL transplant a few years ago. That doesn’t count does it?

[telescope115]

Thanks for the link. There are so many of them, the one I’m most familiar with is UNOS.org, I receive regular newsletters from them.

[tinamina]

Thank you. 32 years is a long time to live also. Transplant at the time was projected to extend her life by 10 years. The side effects are no good but hopefully in the future there will be better prospects for transplant patients.

[telescope115]

My immunosuppressant drug is Tacrolimus. Has she been on prednisone all this time? Perhaps there are alternative meds that she might tolerate better with less severe side effects?
I’m new to this, and I know I’m gonna have side effects from my meds, especially skin problems. Better than the alternative, I guess…

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

AFAICT no.

You do not take immunosuppressive drugs afterwards.

And that seems to be the issue.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

No. This is something that has been going on for a long time.

Your skin is easily damaged by the sun. So it has a special immune system in place to deal with the damage. When you have a transplant that is not from an identical twin you have to take immunosuppressive drugs or your body will quickly destroy the new organ. It still does, even with the drugs, but at a much slower rate.

The problem is that those drugs also take out your skin's special immune system that normally would sweep the cancer cells away.

So people who have had transplants need to be careful about light. I use that word because even the radiation from an artificial light does damage. Just less. Fire light is the least harmful but it is really not practical to stay indoors at all times and your only light be candles.