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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Donor Posterior Atrial Flap Rotation for Left Atrial Cuff Reconstruction in Lung Transplantation
Published on: October 11, 2024
Lung cancer after heart transplantation: a 17-year experience
Konstantinos Potaris1, Branislav Radovancevic, Cynthia D Thomas
1Department of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation, Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas 77225-0345, USA.
Background:
The effects of heart transplantation on lung cancer incidence in heart transplant recipients are unclear.
Methods:
In an observational study, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients undergoing heart transplantation at our institution from July 1982 to July 1999. Data on lung cancer incidence, risk factors, treatment, and outcome were collected.
Results:
Five hundred seventy-two patients (mean age, 50 +/- 11 years; range, 18 to 73) were considered at risk for lung cancer. Of these, 324 (57%) had a more than 20 pack-year history of smoking before transplantation. Lung cancer developed in 2 patients 1 year or less after transplantation and in 8 patients more than 1 year after transplantation (incidence, 2.2 per 1,000 patients per year of follow-up). Non-small cell lung cancer was diagnosed in all cases. Median survival was 10.8 months (range, 2 to 37.5). Routine annual chest radiographs after transplantation enabled early diagnosis in 5 cases (stages Ia and IIa), which correlated with better mean survival (28.1 months [range, 19 to 37.5] versus 5.1 months [range, 2 to 10.8]; p = 0.0002).
Conclusions:
The incidence of lung cancer in our population of heart transplant recipients appears to be no higher than in nontransplant populations with similar risk factors (ie, smoking and age). Routine radiographic imaging of transplant recipients may allow earlier detection of lung cancer and thus offer a survival benefit.
