Organ transplantation and outcomes in patients with a past history of melanoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The incidence of melanoma is steadily rising around the world. There is uncertainty about the safety of solid organ transplantation in patients with a prior history of melanoma. Aim To review studies reporting patients with a history of melanoma before solid organ transplantation. Methods Electronic searches of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane library up to March 2020. All study designs, in any language and without sample size restriction, were eligible for inclusion. Risk of bias was assessed using established tools, and meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Results We identified 41 studies reporting 703 100 transplant recipients and 1692 had pre-transplantation melanomas. Risk of death, expressed as a hazard ratio, in patients with pre-transplantation melanoma relative to those without prior melanoma, was 1.32 (95% CI: 1.09-1.59). After transplantation, 13.1% of patients with pre-transplantation melanoma developed new or recurrent melanoma (IQR: 4.8%-18.2%). Conclusions Around 1-in-400 transplant recipients had a prior history of melanoma. This was associated with a greater than 1-in-10 risk of new or recurrent melanoma after transplantation and an increased risk of death. A 5-year waiting time between a melanoma diagnosis and transplantation has been recommended based on historic registry data, but very little additional information is available to justify or revise this.

Automated summary

The incidence of melanoma is increasing globally. Patients with a prior history of melanoma who undergo solid organ transplantation have a greater risk of developing new or recurrent melanoma and an increased risk of death. A recommended 5-year waiting period between melanoma diagnosis and transplantation lacks sufficient supporting data for justification or revision.