Malignancies of the genito-urinary system following renal transplantation

To analyse the development of malignancies of the genito-urinary system after renal transplantation.

A total of 868 renal graft recipients were followed up over a mean period of 41.8 +/- 45 months. Fifteen patients received grafts from living related donors and 853 were transplanted with kidneys from cadavers.

Twelve patients (1.4%) exhibited cancer of the genito-urinary system: 11 tumours were de novo malignancies. One small renal carcinoma was transplanted from a living related donor. The incidence of tumours of the genito-urinary system was 34 in 100,000 patient years in the patients treated with cyclosporin and 32 in 100,000 patient years in the conventional therapy group. Four patients died within a mean survival time of 14.4 months. Comparison of our results with sex- and age-specific incidence rates in a reference population showed an increase in malignant tumours of the genitourinary system by a factor of 7.3 in males and 11.2 in females.

The frequency of disorders after transplantation necessitates routine examinations in organ transplanted recipients both before and at regular intervals after transplantation, including the patient's native kidneys and cervical smears in females.