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Chances for Tumor Threats Post Organ Transplant

Organ transplant patients are vulnerable to develop more than 32 different types of cancer threats often, than the others, study finds.

 Chances for Tumor Threats Post Organ Transplant
Organ transplanted patients who take immunosuppressants regularly to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ have an elevated cancer risk. Sometimes it could be because of the underlying medical condition of the transplanted patients too.
The organ that is transplanted to a person and the type of tumor that has developed in the individual determine the rate at which longevity could be affected.

The American Cancer Society’s peer-reviewed journal, CANCER, has published the results of an interesting study on this subject. According to that, the impact of the tumor on causing premature death was the subject of a study conducted by Anne-Michelle Noone, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, and her colleagues.

The study report says that 5.9% of organ transplanted patients develop cancer in a span of ten years. The average life span lost in individuals affected by cancer post-transplantation is 2.72 years of their lifetime. Lung cancer was a serious threat amidst all the other types of threats in the studied individuals contributing to losing five years of their lifespan.

Screening the transplant patients at regular intervals with meticulous attention to detail prevents the development of tumors on a larger scale. "For example, there may be opportunities to screen for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, especially in groups at high risk for this cancer, such as children. Also, healthcare providers should consider screening older transplant recipients with a smoking history for lung cancer, as recommended for people who smoke in the general population, "said Dr. Noone.

Organ transplanted patients hailing from the USA pose double the risk of cancer than the rest of the population, says new research. It adds that the elevated risks in organ transplant patients of developing 32 varied types of tumors are identified. However, in any given year, the maximum amount of risk that the organ transplanted patients will have to develop a tumor is likely to be less than 0.7%. This goes to show that the benefits of organ transplants outweigh the risks of cancer by far.

"People need to understand that transplantation is one of the great success stories of medicine. It's a very effective treatment for people with severe organ disease, "explained the study's lead author, Dr. Eric Engels, a senior investigator in the infections and epidemiology branch of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md.

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"Our study is saying that this population has a unique pattern of cancer risk. Transplant recipients need to be carefully screened and followed," Engels added.

The results of the study are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Source-Medindia


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