Posted on 12/06/2022 7:35:31 PM PST by ConservativeMind
More than half of all patients who receive solid organ transplants will have an incidence of skin cancer at some point—most often a nonmelanoma cancer, such as basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. This increased risk can be several hundred times higher than in the general population.
The increased risk is related to long-term immunosuppressive therapy required for transplanted organ survival, which affects the immune system's ability to monitor cells for abnormalities, according to Leila Tolaymat, M.D.
"While dermatologists are involved in treating carcinomas and other neoplasms in high-risk patients, an understanding of skin cancer risk, is important across the patient care team," she says.
Nonmelanoma skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinomas, are the most common types of skin cancer that organ transplant recipients tend to develop. Melanoma, although less common than nonmelanoma skin cancer, is more frequent among organ transplant recipients compared to the general population.
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignant neoplasm seen in these transplant recipients, who are at risk for worse outcomes, including a skin cancer-specific mortality rate that is nine times higher than the general population. Basal cell carcinoma is the second most common type of skin cancer among transplant patients.
Organ transplant recipients have an increased risk of melanoma estimated at up to five times the risk for the general population. Findings also suggest that melanoma has a more aggressive disease course among transplant recipients.
Reduction in immunosuppressive medications can be effective for skin cancer prevention and treatment, though the risks and potential benefits must be discussed with the patient's full multidisciplinary team and requires close monitoring. Therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors are possible options when more traditional approaches are not feasible, though checkpoint inhibitor therapy comes with the risk of allograft rejection.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Please get checked often, if you are a transplant recipient.
The float is mostly a Chinese dragon.
How inappropriate is that?
And say a little prayer for the kids born with it.
We’re the donors jabbees?
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.
This brought tears to my eyes:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeroderma_pigmentosum
No cure, and half the life span of others.
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.
Do you remember what organization that was?
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.
Prayers for her as well. 32 years is a long time to be dealing with that.
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.
I had an ACL transplant a few years ago. That doesn’t count does it?
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.
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.
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…
You do not take immunosuppressive drugs afterwards.
And that seems to be the issue.
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.