Objective: Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of cancer compared to the general population. To date, this risk in Ireland has not been investigated. We conducted a national registry study of cancer incidence following solid organ transplantation.
Methods: National centers for solid organ transplantation supplied their respective registry databases to cross-reference with episodes of malignancy from the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) between 1994 and 2014. Standardized incidence of cancer post-transplant was compared to the general population by means of standardized incidence ratios (SIRs), and between solid organ transplant types by incidence rate ratios.
Results: A total of 3346 solid organ transplant recipients were included in this study. Kidney transplant recipients constituted the majority of participants (71.2%), followed by liver (16.8%), heart (6.4%), and lung (5.6%) transplants. The most common cancers within the composite of all transplant recipients included the following (SIR [95% CI]): squamous and basal cell carcinoma (20.05 [17.97, 22.31] and 7.16 [6.43, 7.96], respectively), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (6.23 [4.26, 8.59]), and renal cell carcinoma (3.36 [1.96, 5.38]).
Conclusions: This study reports the incidence of cancer following solid organ transplantation in Ireland. These results have significant national policy implications for surveillance, and early diagnosis in this patient group.
Keywords: cancer; incidence; transplant.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.