De novo cancer incidence after kidney and liver transplantation: Results from a nationwide population based data

The cancer risk among solid organ transplantation recipients in East-Asia has been insufficiently studied. This study estimated de novo cancer incidence in kidney and liver recipients 2008–2015, compared with the general population in Korea using nationwide data. This is a retrospective cohort study using nationwide health insurance claims data. The study population was comprised of cancer-free 10,085 kidney recipients and 3,822 liver recipients. Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of cancer using indirect standardization was calculated. Compared with the general population, the cancer risk increased by 3.19-fold in male and 2.56-fold in female kidney recipients. By cancer type, a notably increased SIR was observed for Kaposi sarcoma, renal cancer, skin cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in male and for bladder cancer, renal cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in female kidney recipients. In liver recipients, the SIR of all cancers was 3.43 in males and 2.30 in females. In male liver recipients, the SIRs for Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, and skin cancer and in female recipients those for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver cancer were prominent. A greatly higher SIRs for overall cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in kidney and liver recipients aged 0–19 were observed, compared with recipients in other age group. The incidence of de novo cancer in kidney and liver recipients was higher than the general population and common types were different. Strategies of cancer prevention and screening after kidney and liver transplantation should be developed in response to the incidence of common types of de novo cancers.