Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in solid organ transplant recipients - Results from the scientific registry of transplant recipients (SRTR) database

Amrita Mukherjee; Jinhong Cui; Pranali G Patel; Preeti Bhagia; Susan D McCammon; Sooryanarayana Varambally; Sadeep Shrestha

doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2024.104444

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in solid organ transplant recipients - Results from the scientific registry of transplant recipients (SRTR) database

Am J Otolaryngol. 2024 Jul 31;45(6):104444. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2024.104444. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Amrita Mukherjee¹, Jinhong Cui², Pranali G Patel³, Preeti Bhagia³, Susan D McCammon⁴, Sooryanarayana Varambally⁵, Sadeep Shrestha³

Affiliations

¹ Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA; Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address: amrita.x.mukherjee@kp.org.
² Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA.
³ Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁴ Otolaryngology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁵ Molecular & Cellular Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA.

PMID: 39096566
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2024.104444

Abstract

Background: Solid organ transplant recipients have an elevated risk of cancer following organ transplantation than the age-adjusted general population. We assessed incidence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in heart, lung, and liver recipients.

Basic procedures/methods: This retrospective cohort study included 124,966 patients from the United States Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) database who received heart, lung, or liver transplantation between 1991 and 2010. Follow-up data were available until 2018. Patients with prevalent HNSCC at transplantation were excluded. Incident cases of HNSCC post organ transplantation were identified, and incidence rates (per 100,000 person-years) were reported by gender, race, organ type, year and age at organ transplantation.

Main findings: The majority of patients received liver transplantation (58.64 %), followed by heart (28.64 %), and lung (12.72 %) transplantation. During follow-up, 4.14 % patients developed HNSCC. Overall incidence rate of HNSCC was 426.76 per 100,000 person-years. Male recipients had a higher HNSCC incidence rate than female recipients (571.8 and 177.0 per 100,000 person-years, respectively). Lung recipients had the highest overall HNSCC incidence rate (1273.6 per 100,000 person-years), followed by heart (644.2 per 100,000 person-years), and liver recipients (207.1 per 100,000 person-years). Overall, an increase in HNSCC incidence rate was observed with increase in age at organ transplantation. An increase in incidence rates of HNSCC over time was observed in lung recipients; however, incidence rates decreased over time in heart recipients.

Conclusion: Solid organ transplant recipients have a high incidence of HNSCC following organ transplantation, and the incidence varies by type of organ received.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; Incidence rate; Solid organ transplant; Transplant recipients.