http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/...2712?query=TOC
NEJM | Volume 353:2712-2713 | | December 22, 2005 | | Number 25 |
|---|
| Next |
Immunosuppression, Skin Cancer, and Ultraviolet A Radiation
John A. Parrish, M.D.
Skin cancer is a serious problem in immunosuppressed patients.
In these patients, cutaneous cancers are common in areas of
the skin that are exposed to the sun, are more aggressive than
in patients who are not immunosuppressed, are sometimes fatal,
and often require multiple surgical procedures.
1 Although the
absolute risk of squamous-cell carcinoma after renal transplantation
is highest in sunny climates, the risk of these tumors is also
greatly elevated in less sunny areas. For example, a study of
more than 700 renal-transplant recipients in the Netherlands
disclosed that the overall incidence of squamous-cell carcinoma
was 250 times that....