The appearance of lip cancer (LC) in renal transplant patients (RTPs) is associated with immunosuppressant treatment, sun exposure, and tobacco, and these patients should avoid smoking and unprotected exposure to sunlight, according to a study in Oral Oncology (January 2011, Vol. 47:1, pp. 68-71).
Researchers from Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, wanted to establish the incidence of lip cancer in a population of renal transplant patients, identifying possible risk factors and predictable variables.
They looked at 500 patients (307 men, 193 women) and retrospectively determined cases of lip cancer from outpatient records. All lip cancer lesions were sampled by biopsy and examined histopathologically.
Six of the men (1.2%) suffered lower lip cancer, with five of the six being squamous cell carcinomas. All lip cancer patients showed significant differences in tobacco habit, tobacco consumption, and sun exposure, the researchers found. The median interval for lip cancer incidence after renal transplant was 80.50 months, and all patients who had lip cancer were taking prednisolone and cyclosporine A at the time of diagnosis.
"Because of the high incidence of LC in RTPs, periodic checking of the lips is important to ensure prompt diagnosis and correct management of LC," the authors concluded. "Our data suggest that the clinical profile of LC in this patient group is similar to that of the general population."
