CANCER COMMON AFTER LIVER TRANSPLANTATION

Cancer common after liver transplantation :

People who undergo liver transplantation specially child, are having a tremendous chance for cancer, off late Finnish researchers report in Liver Transplantation journal.

Although "more studies are still needed to find sound data on cancer risk patterns, cancer surveillance programs, and strategies to minimize cancer risk."

• Their study included all 540 patients who received liver transplants at Aberg's center between 1982 and 2005, linked with the nationwide Finnish Cancer Registry. During follow-up, 39 cancers developed in 36 patients, which translates into a 2.59-fold increased risk relative to that seen in the general population.
  
  Rates were higher among children younger than 17 years of age than among older patients. The cancers developed anywhere from 4 months to 14 years after the transplant peration.
  

Further analysis showed that only non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the body's infection-fighting lymphatic system, and certain types of skin cancer were more common in liver transplant recipients than in the general population.

Risk factors for skin cancer were older age and the type of immune-suppressing drugs received, while those for non-Hodgkin lymphoma were male gender, young age, and the immediate ost-transplant period.