De novo malignancy in recipients of solid organ transplant from donors with intracranial cancer.

Abstract

e13507 Background: In 2016, 33,610 organ transplants were performed in the US. Nevertheless, there is a critical deficiency of available organs. Currently, malignant neoplasms in the donor preclude organ donation, with some exceptions, such as certain CNS tumors without metastatic disease. The literature illustrates the risk of CNS tumor transmission with organ transplantation as 0-3% in the absence of additional risk factors, but organs from fewer than 0.5% of the 13,000 patients that die of glioma annually are procured. Given the critical need, we sought to reaffirm the safety of organs from donors with intracranial cancer by examining de novo malignancy outcomes in a large dataset. Methods: We examined the UNOS database to determine whether recipients of solid organ transplant from donors with intracranial cancer were at increased risk of de novo malignancy. Included were 119,430 subjects ages 18 to 65 who underwent heart, heart and lung, intestine, kidney, kidney and pancreas, liver, lung, or pancreas transplant from 1987 to 2012 and for whom there was complete data on donor history of intracranial cancer. 2-by-2 contingency tables were used to calculate odds ratios of exposure to donors with intracranial cancer. Outcomes included five-year survival, composite development of any malignancy, and development of specific malignancies including melanoma, esophageal, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, larynx, mouth, colorectal, primary liver tumor, and metastasis to liver. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was statistically significant. Results: 718 (0.60%) organs came from donors with intracranial cancer. 437 (79.02%) recipients of organs from donors with intracranial cancer survived 5 years, versus 71,055 (77.64%) recipients of organs from donors without intracranial cancer (p = 0.47). 113 (15.74%) recipients of organs from donors with intracranial cancer developed de novo malignancy, versus 17,963 (15.13%) recipients of organs from donors without intracranial cancer (p = 0.60). Of 17 contingency analyses of development of specific malignancies, we detected only 1 statistically significant positive association, de novo colorectal cancer in recipients of solid organ transplant from donors with intracranial cancer (p = 0.048, OR = 2.56). Given the large number of analyses and marginal significance of this in a very large dataset, it is likely type I error. Conclusions: Metastasis of primary CNS tumors beyond the CNS is a rare occurrence without additional risk factors. With the current organ shortage, donors with primary CNS malignancy are ideal candidates for organ donation.