Malignancies after renal transplantation: experience of a Mexican referral center

To report the incidence of cancer after renal transplantation at a referral center in a developing country.

Consecutive patients receiving renal transplantations during a 48-year period at Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran were analyzed. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated based on data from GLOBOCAN 2012.

From 1257 patients, 98 (8%) developed 143 malignancies. The SIR of all the cohort was 4.1 (95% CI 3.2-5.1). The relative risks of male and female transplant recipients were 4.6 and 3.5 times greater than the risk of cancer of the general population, respectively. The most common malignancy was non-melanoma skin cancer (52%). The malignancy that associated with the greater relative risk was Kaposi sarcoma (SIR: 200), followed by lymphomas (SIR: 30). A multivariate analysis comparing patients with cancer and controls confirmed that receiving a three-drug regimen as final treatment, prolonged immunosuppression, and patients undergoing a second renal transplantation were factors associated with increased cancer development.

To date, there is paucity of data from developing countries. We reported the results from a National Health Institute in Mexico including a large cohort with a long follow-up, demonstrating differences within frequencies and risks compared to other regions of the world.