title: Post-transplant malignancy: reducing the risk in kidney transplant recipients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The growing and aging of the end-stage kidney disease population, and improvements in short-term kidney transplant outcomes, have increased the number of patients receiving and living with kidney transplants who are at risk for the long-term complications of transplantation. Cancer has become a major cause of death following kidney transplantation, increasing the need to better understand the risk of post-transplant malignancy and to adapt patient management to minimize that risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper reviews the scope of the problem of post-transplant malignancy, its pathogenesis, and strategies for prevention, with attention to the impact of various immunosuppressive strategies. A Medline search was conducted, reviewing English-language publications from 1948 to February 2011.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Post-transplant malignancy, one of the most common causes of death following transplantation, is linked to both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. The current armamentarium of pharmacotherapy and the possibilities for immunologic monitoring in the future hold the potential for tailoring post-transplant care to minimize the risk of post-transplant malignancy without sacrificing graft survival to optimize outcomes following transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Renal-Electrolyte Division, A915 Scaife Hall, 3550 Terrace Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents