Skin lesions in adult liver transplant recipients: a study of 100 consecutive patients

The surgical advances made in the area of organ transplantation along with the use of more efficacious immunosuppression have meant an increase in patient survival. This longer-living transplant population has started to exhibit cutaneous problems, some of which lead to an increased mortality while others lead to a decline in the quality of life.

The primary objective was to determine the different types of cutaneous lesions encountered in the adult liver transplant population. Secondary objectives were to determine the impact, if any, of the duration of transplant, the type of immunosuppression involved and the degree of sun exposure and skin phototype, on the skin cancers encountered in this transplanted population.

Two dermatologists examined 100 consecutive liver transplant recipients (LTRs) attending the transplant outpatient department. Skin examination included the face and whole body and lesions found were categorized into the following groups: cutaneous malignancies, squamoproliferative lesions, cutaneous infections and others that did not fall into any of these categories.

The reasons for organ transplantation were numerous. The mean age at transplantation was 42.5 years. The average time since transplantation was 5.5 (range 0.75-16 years). Four patients developed skin cancers; among them there were a total of seven skin cancers (one squamous cell carcinoma, six basal cell carcinomas). Fungal infections accounted for 19% of all cutaneous infections seen, viral infections 2% and bacterial infections 5%. Triple-drug immunosuppressive therapy (ciclosporin A, azathioprine and prednisolone) was used in 35% of LTR patients, while dual therapy (tacrolimus and prednisolone) was used in 48% and monotherapy (tacrolimus) was used in 17% of LTRs.

Immunosuppressive therapy is believed to be one of the most important risk factors in the development of skin cancer in solid organ transplant recipients. The relatively low prevalence of skin cancer in our liver transplant population may in part be explained by the relatively high percentage of recipients on dual and monotherapy (48% and 17% respectively), and the shorter duration of therapy. Our study suggests that although LTRs are at higher risk of developing nonmelanoma skin cancer than the general population, the risk is comparable with other solid organ transplant recipients.