Rising incidence of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease in kidney transplant recipients

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the incidence of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) has been increasing in renal transplant recipients in this centre.

Prospectively gathered data were analysed to establish trends in the epidemiology of PTLD in 1537 patients.

Overall, PTLD occurred in 2.3 per cent of renal transplant recipients. An increase in its incidence coincided with the introduction of cyclosporin in the 1980s. However, there was a further increase in the incidence of PTLD in the 1990s when the only change in immunosuppressive policy was the abandonment of pretransplantation blood transfusion. The latter increase was particularly pronounced in patients with early-onset PTLD in whom it presented within 600 days after transplantation.

The incidence of PTLD has been increasing in renal transplant recipients. The recent increase appears to be independent of cyclosporin and may reflect the reduction in pretransplant blood transfusion. Changes in the incidence of PTLD may also mirror changes in the epidemiology of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the general population.