Renal Cell Carcinoma in End-Stage Kidney Disease and the Role of Transplantation

Abstract

Kidney transplant patients have a higher risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) compared to non-transplanted end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients. This increased risk has largely been associated with the use of immunosuppression; however, recent genetic research highlights the significance of tissue specificity in cancer driver genes. The implication of tissue specificity becomes more obscure when addressing transplant patients, as two distinct metabolic environments are present within one individual. The oncogenic potential of donor renal tissue is largely unknown but assumed to pose minimal risk to the kidney transplant recipient (KTR). Our review challenges this notion by examining how donor and recipient microenvironments impact a transplant recipient’s associated risk of renal cell carcinoma. In doing so, we attempt to encapsulate how ESKD-RCC and KTR-RCC differ in their incidence, pathogenesis, outcome, and approach to management.