Heart transplant patients at risk for skin cancers
July 1st, 2011 - 3:15 pm ICT by IANSWashington, July 1 (IANS) Patients of heart transplants face serious skin cancer risks, a latest study reports.
When people receive heart transplants, they need immune medications to keep their body from rejecting the transplant.
The changes to the immune system they experience as a result of the medications can also make them more susceptible to developing cancers, the American Journal of Transplantation reports.
Led by Murad Alam, Northwestern University researchers studied 10 years of patient information regarding 6,271 heart transplants at 32 US transplant centres, according to a Northwestern statement.
Results showed that when looking at what happened to many patients who had undergone heart transplant over a decade, these patients were four to 30 times more likely to get skin cancers than other patients who had not had heart transplants.
“Improved patient education and appropriately increased screening and detection of skin cancers in heart transplant patients may potentially reduce their risk of serious morbidity and mortality,” Alam notes.
- 'Statins prevent cancer in heart transplant patients' - May 20, 2012
- Heart transplant patients 'at increased risk for multiple skin cancers' - Dec 22, 2009
- Avoiding or controlling diabetes may cut cancer risk, mortality - Apr 04, 2011
- Israeli scientists open prospect of repairing damaged hearts - May 23, 2012
- Vitamin D deficiency associated with lung transplant rejection - Oct 19, 2010
- Heart transplant patients face higher risk of skin cancers - Dec 25, 2009
- Simple jab could limit heart attacks and stroke damages - Apr 19, 2011
- Road traffic pollution 'doubles rejection risk following lung transplant' - Mar 24, 2011
- Melanoma-initiating cell identified - Jul 01, 2010
- Daily aspirin cuts bowel cancer death risk - Apr 26, 2012
- Genes can tell which kidney transplant recipients don't need lifelong drugs - May 25, 2010
- Immune deficiency main reason for infant mortality: Experts - Mar 05, 2011
- Fuzzy thinking could detect heart disease risk - Sep 16, 2010
- Chinese scientists make headway in leprosy prevention - Jan 30, 2012
- Sun-triggered protein 'makes skin cancer worse' - Feb 04, 2011
Tags: 10 years, american journal of transplantation, decade, heart transplant patients, heart transplants, immune system, july 1, medications, morbidity and mortality, murad alam, northwestern university researchers, patient education, patient information, risk, serious skin, skin cancer, skin cancers