Colorectal cancer in post-liver transplant recipients

Several malignancies have been reported to occur more often after liver transplantation. Whether this is also true for colorectal carcinoma is controversial. Our aims were 1) to compare the observed rate of colorectal carcinoma in a post-liver transplantation cohort with incidence data from the general Dutch population, and 2) to stratify for patients with and without primary sclerosing cholangitis, because primary sclerosing cholangitis is well established as a risk factor for colorectal carcinoma.

We searched the medical records of liver transplantation patients who had a liver transplantation in our center between 1986 and 2007 with a follow-up of at least 3 months. Incidence data from the general population were retrieved from the Dutch Comprehensive Cancer Registry. Outcome measures were defined as standardized incidence ratio and incidence rate per 100,000 person-years.

Three hundred ninety-four patients (58% men; mean age at liver transplantation, 46.6 y) were included in the 1986 to 2007 period. Bowel investigation before liver transplantation had been performed in 73% of patients. Median follow-up was 5.1 years (range, 0.25-20 y). The mean age at the end of follow-up was 52 years (SD, 13 y). Colorectal carcinoma was diagnosed in four patients (1%) during follow-up. The overall standardized incidence ratio for colorectal carcinoma in post-liver transplant recipients was 2.16 (95% CI: 0.81-5.76) compared with the general population and 1.26 (95% CI: 0.31-5.03) for nonprimary sclerosing cholangitis post-liver transplant recipients.

This study suggests that the incidence of colorectal carcinoma is not increased in non-primary sclerosing cholangitis post-liver transplantation compared with the general population. A more intense colorectal carcinoma surveillance program based on this result remains controversial in nonprimary sclerosing cholangitis post-liver transplant recipients.