Crude Incidence Rate of Malignancy after Kidney Transplantation / 대한이식학회지

BACKGROUND: The incidence pattern of malignancy after kidney transplantation is different from that of the general population. Because increased exposure to immunosuppressants results in an increased incidence of malignancy, institutional reports that do not consider duration of immunosuppression have limited value for providing future kidney recipients with the actual risk for malignancy or for developing a kidney allograft recipient surveillance program. Thus, we retrospectively analyzed our institutional data with regard to the duration of exposure to immunosuppressants. METHODS: A total of 757 patients who had kidney transplantation and were followed-up for at least 6 months at our hospital were reviewed retrospectively. The crude incidence rate (CI) was calculated by counting the days of exposure to immunosuppressants. RESULTS: Most malignancies after kidney transplantation were solid tumors (85.3%). The CI of malignancies was 641.1 in allograft recipients and 329.6 in the general population per 100,000 persons per year. Solid tumor cancers of the stomach, liver, lung, breast, cervix, and pancreas showed an increased CI in the allograft recipient group than the general population but cancers of the thyroid and colon did not. Based on the type of immunosuppressive agent, the CI was highest in the cyclosporine group (866/12 months/100,000 persons) than the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: We have provided the CIs of cancers after kidney transplantation at our institute. The pattern of post-transplant malignancy is different from that of western countries. Nationwide registration is needed to provide a more rational approach to post-transplant cancer surveillance in Korea.

Retrospective Study Comparing Cyclosporine Microemulsion and Tacrolimus in Living Donor Renal Transplant Recipient / 대한이식학회지

PURPOSE: In order to achieve an adequate immunosuppression and avoid side effects of immunosuppressant, various combination of immunosuppressant have been tried. METHODS: To review the result of living donor renal transplantation according to the type of calcineurin inhibitor (group 1: microemulsion cyclosporine with mycophenolate mofetil and steroid (n=53) / group 2: tacrolimus with mycophenolate mofetil and steroid (n=44)), we retrospectively reviewed renal transplant recipients between January 1997 through December 2001 in Dongsan medical center. RESULTS: The biopsy proven acute rejection rate were 30.2% in cyclosporine group, while 20.5% in tacrolimus group. Among the 9 cases of acute rejection in tacrolimus group, four cases were associated with BK virus infection. The response rate of acute rejection to steroid pulse therapy was 75.0% and 66.7% in group 1 and 2 respectively. There were no statistical difference in serial changes of serum creatinine after transplantation, number of recipients whose serum creatinine more than 2.0 mg% and proteinuria more than 100 mg/dL, checked at one year. To treat the side effect and intractable acute rejection, calcineurin inhibitors were exchanged each other in 5 recipients. Average steroid daily dosage at one year was 7.10+/-2.82 mg in cyclosporine group while 5.27+/-1.45 mg in tacrolimus group. Overall graft survival were no significant difference between groups up to 24 months but in recipients who developed acute rejection showed better graft survival in cyclosporine group while recipients without acute rejection had better survival in tacrolimus group. CONCLUSIONS: Tacrolimus based immunosuppression showed lower incidence of acute rejection and better steroid sparing effect but developed more polyoma virus infection which eventually deteriorate graft function and survival up to two years.