OBJECTIVE: To present data on cancer distribution in renal-transplant recipients in Chinese people, as in Western studies renal-transplant recipients are reportedly at greater risk of malignancies, especially skin cancer, but there is limited information in Chinese people. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the data of a cancer registry, we compared a hospital-based cohort of 283 renal-transplant recipients between 1981 and 2002 with the general population in Taiwan, to identify the incidence and risk factors of cancer. RESULTS: The cumulative period of observation was 22 582.93 person-months. Twenty-five patients (8.83%) developed malignancies after renal transplantation; the standardized incidence ratio was 4.6 (95% confidence interval 2.84-6.48). Bladder and renal cancers were commonest, and the cumulative incidence rate (CIR) was 4.59%. The second most frequent type was hepatoma, where the CIR was 1.77%. The third was malignant tumour of the skin, with a CIR of 1.41%; these comprised three Kaposi's sarcoma and one malignant lymphoma, with no incidence of squamous or basocellular skin cancer. CONCLUSION: Compared with Western countries, the distribution pattern of cancer after kidney transplantation was different, with no squamous or basocellular skin cancers, and a very high incidence of kidney and urinary tract cancer.
OBJECTIVE: To present data on cancer distribution in renal-transplant recipients in Chinese people, as in Western studies renal-transplant recipients are reportedly at greater risk of malignancies, especially skin cancer, but there is limited information in Chinese people. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the data of a cancer registry, we compared a hospital-based cohort of 283 renal-transplant recipients between 1981 and 2002 with the general population in Taiwan, to identify the incidence and risk factors of cancer. RESULTS: The cumulative period of observation was 22 582.93 person-months. Twenty-five patients (8.83%) developed malignancies after renal transplantation; the standardized incidence ratio was 4.6 (95% confidence interval 2.84-6.48). Bladder and renal cancers were commonest, and the cumulative incidence rate (CIR) was 4.59%. The second most frequent type was hepatoma, where the CIR was 1.77%. The third was malignant tumour of the skin, with a CIR of 1.41%; these comprised three Kaposi's sarcoma and one malignant lymphoma, with no incidence of squamous or basocellular skin cancer. CONCLUSION: Compared with Western countries, the distribution pattern of cancer after kidney transplantation was different, with no squamous or basocellular skin cancers, and a very high incidence of kidney and urinary tract cancer.