What types of cancer are most common after transplant?
Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers seen after transplant. Transplant patients have a twenty to sixty times higher risk of skin cancer than the general population. Life long sun exposure, fair skin, history of burns, and heredity, as well as level of immune suppression, play a role in skin cancer development. Skin cancers often occur five years or later after transplant. To prevent skin cancer • Reduce your exposure to sun as much as you can. • Apply sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher daily, and re-apply as needed. • Wear protective clothing, wide brim hats, and sunglasses. • Avoid mid-day sun when the sun’s rays are most intense. • Have a baseline full body exam by a doctor and see a dermatologist often. Lymphoma is a type of cancer in the lymph glands and has 30 times higher incidence after transplant. Lymphoma or Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease (PTLD) has the highest incidence within the first year of transplant when immunosuppression medicines are at their highes
