Transplant-Associated Skin Cancer: Role of Reducing Immunosuppression

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Marcy NeuburgFrom the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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This article explores the role of reducing immunosuppression as a therapeutic strategy for the problem of transplant-associated skin cancer. The specific issue of immunosuppression reduction is based on a brief historic review of the epidemiology of skin cancer in transplant patients, followed by a description of the role of immunosuppression as a cause of skin cancer. Finally, the literature pertaining to the hypothesis that reducing immunosuppression in solid organ transplant recipients favorably impacts both the incidence of cutaneous malignancy and outcomes relating to individual aggressive malignancies is presented.

Correspondence: Marcy Neuburg, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226. E-mail: mneuburg@mcw.edu
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