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Sirolimus Use and Risk of Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Association examined in transplant recipients

Publish date:: September 9, 2015

An analysis of solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) demonstrated that sirolimus exposure was not associated with a reduction in incident posttransplantation cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) risk.

A cohort of 3539 SOTR treated in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system were evaluated for posttransplantation SCC risk relative to sirolimus exposure. Sirolimus use was determined from electronic pharmacy records, whereas incident posttransplantation SCCs were gleaned from health plan pathology records. 488 were exposed to sirolimus, and 47 developed incident SCC.

SCC risk was not found to be associated with ever using sirolimus. Additionally, there was no correlation between SCC and cumulative duration of sirolimus exposure when comparing long-term users with nonusers.

In reporting their findings, researchers acknowledged that they lacked information about known SCC risk factors (ie skin type and sun exposure).

Citation: Asgari MM, Warton EM, Quesenberry CP, et al. Sirolimus use and risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). J Am Acad Dermatol. 2015;73(3):444-450.

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