Relationship Between Vitamin D Blood Levels and Cancer Development in Renal Transplant Patients: A Case-Control Study

Malignancy is one of the most common long-term complications in renal transplant patients, often related to immunosuppressive treatment although other factors could be considered. Vitamin D plays an important role in reducing cancer risk. After kidney transplantation (KT), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OH-D, or calcidiol) insufficiency concerns >85%. The main aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between calcidiol blood levels and cancer development in KT recipients.

This was a retrospective observational case-control study including patients who received transplants in our hospital from 2003 to 2009 with a follow-up period to 2015. A total of 738 patients were included; 94 of them developed malignancy process, 80 of whose tumor data were analyzed in the cancer group, and the rest composed the control group. At the moment of cancer presentation, age, sex, primary kidney disease, time after surgery, immunosuppressant schedule, and 25OH-D blood levels were collected.

The mean patient age was 57 years. The percentages of man and women were 59.5% and 41.5%. The predominant etiology of kidney disease was chronic glomerulonephritis in 31.9%. There were no significant differences between sex, primary kidney disease, immunosuppressant schedule, or incidence of neoplasm in each group of patients. There were no significant differences in 25OH-D blood levels. The incidence of cancer was 7.1%-13.7% per year. The mean time between the graft surgery and the event was 5.6 years.

In patients with functioning KT, we found no correlation between blood levels of calcidiol and the incidence of cancer.