Collaborative United Kingdom-Australasian study of cancer in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs.

Risk of Kaposi's sarcoma and of other cancers in Italian renal transplant patients

“…The overall increase in cancer risk we found (1.8-fold) is somewhat lower than that reported from previous investigations in transplant patients (Kinlen et al, 1979;Birkeland et al, 1995;Hoshida et al, 1997;Adami et al, 2003), but the exclusion in our analysis of nonmelanoma skin cancers explains a large part of this difference.…”

“…The overall cancer risk is three-to four-fold elevated, but some specific cancers show greater increases (Kinlen, 1992). For nonmelanoma skin cancers and lip cancer, the relative risks are increased 10-to 60-fold (Kinlen et al, 1979;Birkeland et al, 1995;Adami et al, 2003), while the excess of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is about five-to 10-fold (Hoshida et al, 1997;Birkeland et al, 2000;Adami et al, 2003). Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) has been frequently reported in transplant patients in the United States (Penn, 2000), in the Middle East (Qunibi et al, 1988) and in Italy (Montagnino et al, 1996;Pedotti et al, 2003), but the excess risk has not been closely quantified.…”

Interleukin-12 and photocarcinogenesis

“…UVB-induced immune suppression is considered as a risk factor for the development of skin cancer (Donawho and Kripke, 1991;Ziegler et al, 1994;Yoshikawa et al, 1990). It has been recognized that chronically immunosuppressed patients living in regions of intense sun exposure experience an exceptionally high rate of skin cancer particularly in sun-exposed areas (Kinlen et al, 1979). In addition, an increased incidence of skin cancers, especially squamous cell carcinomas, has been noted among recipients of organ transplants (Cowen and Billingsley, 1999;Otley and Pittelkow, 2000;Fortina et al, 2000).…”

Anti–tumor necrosis factor α therapy and the risk of lymphoma in rheumatoid arthritis: No clear answer

“…Specifically, subjects treated with anti-TNF agents are more likely to have received previous conventional immunosuppressive therapy, and it may be the latter that explains their increased lymphoma risk. The first evidence of an association between immunosuppressive drugs and lymphoproliferative malignancies came from a large UK-Australasian study of patients who underwent renal transplant and others who did not undergo renal transplant (18). Compared with the general population, the patients who received a transplant showed a significant excess of lymphoproliferative malignancies.…”