Lung cancer after kidney transplantation: a 50-year experience at a single institution

To investigate the clinical characteristics of lung cancer that develops after kidney transplantation.

The clinical data of patients with lung cancer diagnosed after kidney transplantation were collected retrospectively. The medical records were extracted from our database. All patients underwent routine chest examination after kidney transplantation.

In total, 17 lung tumors were detected in 15 (0.6%) of 2593 patients who underwent kidney transplantation at our institution. Eleven lung tumors were completely resected from a collective 10 patients (surgical group). The remaining five patients did not receive surgical treatment (nonsurgical group). The surgical group underwent wedge resection (n = 5), segmentectomy (n = 1), lobectomy (n = 3), and bilobectomy (n = 1). The pathological stages were 0 (n = 1), IA1 (n = 2), IA2 (n = 4), IA3 (n = 2), and IB (n = 1). The surgical group had a significantly better prognosis than the nonsurgical group. There were no perioperative complications related to kidney transplantation in either group.

Routine chest examination would be useful for the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer after kidney transplantation. Moreover, surgical resection for early-stage lung cancer was associated with a better prognosis for kidney transplantation patients.