Organ transplant recipients may be at an increased risk of developing melanoma compared to the general population, according to research published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Mortality caused by a melanoma was also found to be higher among transplant patients compared to other melanoma patients.

This may be attributable to transplant-related suppression of the immune system to prevent organ rejection.

Hilary Robbins and colleagues analysed data from 13,991 non-Hispanic, white transplant recipients in the US between 1987 and 2010.

They found that transplant patients had an increased risk of developing melanoma compared to the general population, particularly for late-stage tumours and within four years of transplantation.

Furthermore, mortality due to melanoma was three times higher in melanoma patients who had received a transplant than in melanoma patients who had not.

However, the authors note that there may be differences in the reporting and diagnosis of melanomas for transplant recipients that could partly explain some of the findings.

For example, transplant recipients may be more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma in hospital settings, where reporting to cancer registries is more complete.

The authors note that transplant patients should be encouraged to minimise unnecessary ultraviolet radiation exposure and adopt sun-protective behaviours, and they suggest that additional dermatologic monitoring of transplant patients could be beneficial, particularly within the four years following transplantation.

Further research is required to fully understand the relationship between immune suppression and melanoma.

Source: Nature