Why do heart transplants lead to skin cancer?Almost half of all patients with heart transplant get skin cancer. Because those patients continuously use immune suppressant drugs after implant surgery to prevent their body from rejecting the organ. One of the risks of using immune suppressant drugs is development of skin cancer. Also, according to the book Skin Disease in Organ Transplantaion by Bradley T. MD Kovach and Thomas MD Stasko: “As more transplants are performed and postoperative survival improves, the complications of chronic immunosuppression, including development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), have become more prevalent.” Other study proves that: “The level of immunosuppression should be kept as low as possible consistent with survival and function of the transplanted organ.”
Another article finds that: “an increased progressive cumulative incidence of skin cancer in heart transplant recipients has two reasons: (1) immunosuppression and increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation in some patients, and (2) the skin type of certain patients.” This, basically means that chances of getting skin cancer after heart transplant depends on each individual's immune system as well as his/her skin type.Furthermore, Another study found the following: “In 2005, a study conducted at the Penn State College of Medicine looked at the data of 89,786 kidney transplant recipients and compared it to the general population. Led by Christopher S. Hollenbeak, PhD, the study team found that kidney transplant recipients were 3.6 times more likely to get melanoma when compared with the general population.” This is a good example of organ transplant other than heart, and chances of getting cancer.
They also found that the risk continued to escalate with each passing year after transplant, at about 5% per year.” These findings reveal the importance of the immune system in fighting against cancer, as the immune system is suppressed the risk for cancer and infection increases.
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Immunosuppressant drugs:
According to General Medicine journal Immunosuppressant drugs are “drugs that are used to prevent the body from rejecting transplanted organs or tissues and to slow down the immune response..”. In addition, “Immunosuppressants may cause light sensitivity and severe reactions upon exposure to sunlight, increasing the risk for skin cancer in people using long-term immunosuppressant medications. The risk of cancer increases in people on immunosuppressants because normally, the immune system protects us from cancer and infection by removing mutated and infected cells.”
