title: Double endocrine neoplasia in a renal transplant recipient: case report and review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence of cancer compared for age groups is 3-4 times higher in transplant recipients than the general population. The increased risk is related to immunosuppressive therapy as well as the use of increasingly older donors and recipients. Although cardiovascular disease with a functioning transplant is the leading cause of death (47%), cancer mortality is significant especially among older patients. However, the most frequent posttransplantation cancers relate to hemolymphopoietic organs and skin, whereas the occurrence of solid tumors elsewhere is rare. Herein we have described a rare case of synchronous double malignancy of endocrine organs (thyroid-adrenal) in a young woman who underwent renal transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 37-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease for 18 years underwent transplantation when she was 30 years old with a 17-year-old standard cadaveric donor receiving immunosuppressive therapy with mycophenolate mofetil, cyclosporine, and steroids. Follow-up demonstrated good indices of renal function with negative tumor pathology at 79 months when, at an annual ultrasound monitoring, we found a lesion in the right lobe of the thyroid and left adrenal neoplasm of dubious interpretation. The cytology for the thyroid was highly suspicious of papillary carcinoma, whereas the histological examination after surgery diagnosed a thyroid multifocal papillary microcarcinoma (mpT1NxMx) and an oxyphil cell adrenocortical carcinoma (pT2, N0).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six months after total thyroidectomy with central lymphadenectomy and left kidney and adrenal gland removal the patient showed no evidence of recurrent lesions and stable graft function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rare occurrence of solid tumors after transplantation has no known etiopathogenetic relation. Despite the young age of the patient and the double neoplasm that could have produced an unfavorable outcome for the patient and the graft, careful follow-up for tumor pathologies and multidisciplinary management achieved an early diagnosis of both tumors with a surgical eradication without adjuvant therapy, preserving the life of the patient and the function of the graft.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Discipline Chirurgiche ed Oncologiche, Facoltá di Medicina e Chirurgia, Universitá degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. ailomonte@unipa.it
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Lo Monte
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Damiano
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maione
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Florena
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gioviale
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellavia
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cacciabaudo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buscemi
mesh_terms: D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D018268:Adrenocortical Carcinoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002277:Carcinoma; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000009:adverse effects; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D009377:Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009392:Nephrectomy; D024862:Oxyphil Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D013256:Steroids / Q000009:adverse effects; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D013256:Steroids; D016572:Cyclosporine; D009173:Mycophenolic Acid