Study quantifies years of life lost to cancer in transplant recipients

People who have received organ transplants are at high risk of developing cancer, mainly due to the immunosuppression of drugs to prevent organ rejection, as well as the underlying medical conditions. An important unresolved question concerns the contribution of cancer to years of life lost in transplant recipients, which is a measure of the impact of cancer on premature death. This question was explored recently in a study published by Wiley at the start of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

For the study, Anne-Michelle Noone, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, and her colleagues examined data from organ transplants and cancer registries in the United States from 1987 to 2014, with information relating to all ages and to all organs. The team quantified the years of life lost to cancer, or the extent to which the average lifespan is shortened by cancer, in transplant recipients.

Of the 221,962 transplant recipients, 13,074 (5.9%) developed cancer within 10 years of the transplant. During this 10-year post-transplant period, recipients who developed cancer lost an average of 2.7 years of life due to their cancer diagnosis. In total, cancer was responsible for 11% of all years of life lost, regardless of the cause.

Lung cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma had the greatest impact, and each resulted in a reduction in lifespan of about five years. Lung recipients had the most years of life lost to cancer, followed by cardiac recipients. In addition, the years of life lost to cancer increased with age.

The authors stress the importance of cancer prevention and screening in transplant recipients, with particular attention to those most at risk.

For example, there may be opportunities to screen for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, especially in groups at high risk for this cancer, such as children. In addition, healthcare providers should consider screening older transplant recipients with a history of smoking for lung cancer, as recommended for people who smoke in the general population. “

Dr Anne-Michelle Noone, PhD, National Cancer Institute