Posttransplant malignancies in renal transplant recipients: 22-years experience from a single center in Pakistan

To study the incidence, types and distribution pattern of malignant tumors in renal transplant recipients at a single center in Pakistan.

This retrospective study was conducted at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and included all transplant patients on regular follow-up from November 1986 to December 2008. The original biopsy reports and case files of all patients who developed posttransplant malignancies were reviewed and relevant demographic, clinical, radiological, and histopathological data were retrieved and analyzed. SPSS version 10.0 was used for statistical analysis.

Over 22 years of study period, 1816 renal transplants were carried out at our center. Among these, 44 patients developed malignancies constituting an overall incidence rate of 2.4%. All patients in this study were males with a mean age of 34.9±9.5 years (range: 9 to 60 years). The most common type of malignancy was lymphoma (27 patients, 61.4%), followed by Kaposi's sarcoma (11 patients, 25%) and skin malignancies (3 patients, 6.8%). One case each of adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), conjunctival carcinoma-in-situ and seminoma were also diagnosed.

Posttransplant malignancies occurring in our renal transplant recipients show different incidence rates and patterns as compared with western studies.