People who’ve received organ transplants may face an increased risk for the deadly skin cancer melanoma, a new study suggests.
The researchers said the increased risk may stem from the immune system-suppressing drugs that must be taken to prevent rejection of the new organs.
The analysis of data from hundreds of thousands of transplant recipients and melanoma patients in the United States showed that transplant recipients were twice as likely to develop melanoma and three times more likely to die of the disease than people who had not undergone a transplant.
The researchers also found that transplant recipients were four times more likely to be diagnosed with melanomas that had already spread to other parts of the body.