Kidney transplant patients are 200 times more at risk of skin cancer than the average person and should apply factor 60 sun cream even in overcast weather, according to a new study.
The study of some 2,000 kidney transplant patients at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin found that patients were at an increased risk of getting skin cancer because their immune-
suppressing drugs leave their immune system less able to detect and destroy the early cancer cells in time.
Older patients can develop skin cancer as early as two years after transplantation, while younger patients develop skin cancers more frequently. Within six years of a transplant, a younger patient is 200 times more likely to develop skin cancer than a healthy person at the same age.
Dermatologist Dr Fergal Moloney, who oversaw the study, says patients need to be particularly aware of the risk.
"Normally, our immune system holds this in check so the damaged cells don't progress to cancer. But immuno-
suppressant drugs can reduce your immune surveillance by about 50 per cent, leaving you vulnerable, especially to skin cancers," he says.
Moloney has recommended in his research, which was funded by the HRB, that all transplant patients undergo a skin screen on a regular basis with a dermatologist and that all people avoid sunburn and too much sun.
"You never know when you'll need a transplant, and it's the amount of exposure you have before your transplant that is really important," he says. Transplant patients should cover their skin even on overcast days with sufficient clothes and apply a factor 60 sunblock on the face, hands and the "vee" of the neck.
The report, The Great Cancer Cover Up, recommends that transplant patients become familiar with what changes to look for, while women should have annual smear tests as immuno-
suppressant drugs leave them more susceptible to genital warts.
In a separate study in UCD, Prof Finian Martin has been investigating why breast cancer cells are so disorganised, compared with normal healthy breast tissue which has a very organised three-dimensional structure.
By comparing different breast tissue and how they are organised, Martin hopes to understand the changes, providing information that could one day lead to new therapies.
The studies come as 22,000 people in Ireland develop cancer on an annual basis and 7,500 die from the disease. These numbers could double over the next 15 years as people live longer and have more time to develop cancer, according to a recent report published by the National Cancer Registry.