Cancer morbidity and mortality after pediatric solid organ transplantation-a nationwide register study

Adult and late adolescent complications of pediatric solid organ transplantation

BACKGROUND

There have been over 51 000 pediatric solid organ transplants since 1988 in the United States alone, leading to a growing population of long-term survivors who face complications of childhood organ failure and long-term immunosuppression.

AIMS

This is an educational review of existing literature.

RESULTS

Pediatric solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk for risk for cardiovascular and kidney disease, skin cancers, and growth problems, though the severity of impact may vary by organ type. Pediatric recipients often are able to complete schooling, maintain a job, and form family and social networks in adulthood, though at somewhat lower rates than the general population, but face additional challenges related to neurocognitive deficits, mental health disorders, and discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS

Transplant centers and research programs should expand their focus to include long-term well-being. Increased collaboration between pediatric and adult transplant specialists will be necessary to better understand and manage long-term complications.

Children Are Not Small Adults: Similarities and Differences in Renal Transplantation Between Adults and Pediatrics

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for all patients with end-stage kidney disease, including pediatric patients. Graft survival in pediatrics was lagging behind adults, but now is comparable with the adult cohort. Although many of the protocols have been adopted from adults, there are issues unique to pediatrics that one should be aware of to take care of this population. These issues include recipient size consideration, increased incidence of viral infections, problems related to growth, common occurrence of underlying urological issues, and psychosocial issues. This article addresses the similarities and differences in renal transplantation, from preparing a patient for transplant, the transplant process, to post-transplant complications.

Long-term mortality in pediatric solid organ recipients-A nationwide study

BACKGROUND

The present study aimed at investigating long-term mortality of patients who underwent solid organ transplantation during childhood and at identifying their causes of death.

METHODS

A cohort of 233 pediatric solid organ transplant recipients who had a kidney, liver, or heart transplantation between 1982 and 2015 in Finland were studied. Year of birth-, sex-, and hometown-matched controls (n = 1157) were identified using the Population Register Center registry. The Causes of Death Registry was utilized to identify the causes of death.

RESULTS

Among the transplant recipients, there were 60 (25.8%) deaths (median follow-up 18.0 years, interquartile range of 11.0-23.0 years). Transplant recipients' risk of death was nearly 130-fold higher than that of the controls (95% CI 51.9-1784.6). The 20-year survival rates for kidney, liver, and heart recipients were 86.1% (95% CI 79.9%-92.3%), 58.5% (95% CI 46.2%-74.1%), and 61.4% (95% CI 48.1%-78.4%), respectively. The most common causes of death were cardiovascular diseases (23%), infections (22%), and malignancies (17%). There were no significant differences in survival based on sex or transplantation era.

CONCLUSION

The late mortality is still significantly higher among pediatric solid organ recipients in comparison with controls. Cardiovascular complications, infections, and cancers are the main causes of late mortality for all studied transplant groups. These findings emphasize the cruciality of careful monitoring of pediatric transplant recipients in order to reduce long-term mortality.

Cancer risk and mortality after solid organ transplantation - A population-based 30-year cohort study in Finland

Cancer is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after solid organ transplantation (SOT) and related to lifelong immunosuppression. This retrospective registry study assessed for the first time in Finland population‐based cancer risk and cancer mortality after all SOTs (lung and childhood transplantations included) as standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs). Data from transplant registries were linked with the data of Finnish Cancer Registry and Statistics Finland. We followed 6548 consecutive first SOT recipients from 1 January 1987 to 31 December 2016 translating to 66 741 person‐years (median follow‐up time 8.9 years [interquartile range 4.0‐15.1]). In total, 2096 cancers were found in 1483 patients (23% of all patients). Majority of cancers (53%) were nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs). The overall SIR was 3.6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.5‐3.8) and the SIR excluding NMSCs was 2.2 (95% CI: 2.0‐2.3). SIR for all cancers was highest for heart (5.0) and lowest for liver (2.7) recipients. Most common cancer types after NMSCs were non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), SIR 9.9 (95% CI: 8.5‐11.4) and kidney cancer, SIR 7.3 (95% CI: 6.0‐8.8). Cancer‐related deaths were 17% (n = 408) of all deaths after first month post transplantation. SMR for all cancers was 2.5 (95% CI: 2.2‐2.7) and for NHL 13.6 (95% CI: 10.7‐16.8). Notably, overall SIR for cancer was lower in later period (2000‐2016), 3.0 (95% CI: 2.8‐3.2), than in earlier period (1987‐1999), 4.3 (95% CI: 4.0‐4.5), P < .001. Decrease in cancer incidence was temporally associated with major changes in immunosuppression in the 2000s.

Nonhepatic Cancer in the Pediatric Liver Transplant Population: Guidelines From the ILTS-SETH Consensus Conference

The incidence and geographical distribution of cancers in children are dramatically different from the adult population. Consequent to improvements in postcancer survival, there is a progressive increase in the number of patients requiring liver transplantation (LT) who are in remission from pretransplant malignancy (PTM). Conventionally, however, PTM has been considered a relative contraindication to LT. Furthermore, with improving post-LT survival now extending beyond decades, the cumulative effect of immunosuppression and the increasing risk of de novo cancers need to be acknowledged. A working group was formed to evaluate, discuss, and retrieve all the evidence and provide guidelines with regards to best practices surrounding nonhepatic cancer in the pediatric LT (PLT) population. Further subsections of research included (a) extrahepatic solid tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and other hematological disturbances before PLT and (b) malignancies following PLT (including posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders). This guidance provides a collection of evidence-based expert opinions, consensus, and best practices on nonhepatic cancers in PLT.