GYNECOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES IN IMMUNOSUPPRESSED ORGAN HOMO-GRAFT RECIPIENTS

Immunosuppressed organ homograft recipients have a 5 to 6% incidence of de novo malignancies at some time after transplantation. Gynecologic cancers were encountered in 21 of 224 patients (9%) with these tumors. The predominant lesion was carcinoma of the cervix (18 cases), of which 16 were intraepithelial and 2 were invasive. Gynecologic malignancies have also been encountered in non-transplant patients who were treated with immunosuppressive agents or cancer chemotherapy. All such individuals require gynecologic examination before commencement of treatment and at regular intervals thereafter so that malignancies may be diagnosed at an early stage and treated effectively. Most neoplasms respond well to conventional cancer therapy, but high-grade malignancies may necessitate reduction or cessation of immunosuppressive therapy as well.