Renal transplantation and cancer in the Scandiatransplant material

Scandinavian material is presented, consisting of 3,875 transplanted patients and containing 128 patients in whom cancer was diagnosed. In a subgroup of 566 first-time transplanted Danish patients, there was a significantly increased incidence of tumours compared with the Danish population, a correlation between tumour frequency and mismatch in HLA-A and in HLA-B, a correlation to chronic interstitial nephritis, but no correlation to the occurrence of lymphocytotoxic antibodies or to sex difference between donor and recipient. In this material there is evidence indicating that the presence of constant stimulation by alloantigens leading to chronic immunostimulation, with possible loss of the suppressor function of lymphocytes towards the development of malignant tumours, is an important factor in the development of tumours in transplanted patients.