Immunosuppression therapies allow many solid organ transplant recipients to live longer and healthier lives, but they also increase the risk of skin cancer in these patients.
In Australia, the high incidence of basal and squamous cell carcinomas, particularly on the head and neck, can translate into numerous skin cancers for solid organ transplant recipients. These skin cancers often require excision and can lead to hundreds of surgeries in the patient’s lifetime. For some patients, these skin cancers metastasise and lead to death.
Currently, patient management does not prevent new or additional skin cancers from occurring. As solid organ transplant patients are considered high risk, effective treatments to stop the onset of new cancers are not implemented. For example, oral Sirolimus can reduce the onset of squamous cell carcinomas by up to 50 per cent but this medication can also cause serious adverse events.