ORGAN TRANSPLANT PATIENTS FACE HIGHER RISK OF SKIN CANCER

The San Francisco Chronicle (10/1, Colliver) reports organ transplant patients have higher risks of skin cancer because of the anti-rejection drugs they take. Dr. Sarah Arron, director of UCSF’s High Risk Skin Cancer Clinic, said, “It’s really devastating for transplant patients, given a new lease on life from their transplant, to discover they’re struggling with skin cancer.” The Chronicle adds UCSF researchers “are also involved in a National Cancer Institute study on melanoma in organ transplant patients, which includes examining how safe it would be for a patient already diagnosed with melanoma to have a transplant.” The Chronicle notes, “UCSF will serve as the lead among 20 centers in an American Academy of Dermatology study looking at the incidence and death rates of skin cancer in transplant patients.”